Tuesday, Apr 07, 2009
Comedy club chief takes the show to the US (Detroit here we come)
FT: US affordable housing shortage flagged as "opportunity"
UK investors are being drawn to the US where there is an opportunity to purchase repossessed property for rent to local residents, according to Assetz. The property investment group is working with local housing departments and developers in the US on an investment programme to refurbish repossessed properties and offer them for rent in the local community. Assetz said the scheme has "vast investment potential" with gross yields of over 20 per cent and longer term prospects for strong capital growth. One particular area that Assetz is focusing on is Detroit, where it said there is an acute shortage of affordable housing.
Posted by jack c @ 11:21 AM (673 views) Add Comment
10 Comments
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1. mark said...
i can buy a house for $10 in detroit how is that not affordable, this guy is the biggest di**head on the planet next to Gordon Brown.........
2. little professor said...
Comedy club goes international! This is comic gold from Mr Lawzzz. Detroit was already a dead city, even before the main employers (the motor industry) went titsup. Where is this shortage of affordable housing in detroit? You can buy 3-bed detached houses there for as little as $100.
3. drewster said...
How do these guys get so much press coverage? What does it take to get a press release published in the FT these days?
4. jack c said...
@drewster - I can only guess that the old adage "it's not what you know, it's who you know" applies.
As LP say's this is comic gold from the Law man ! - he'll soon have Beiruit down as the next best place to buy after Detroit
5. drewster said...
mark, LP,
The shortage is in livable housing. The $100 houses are abandoned - they have been stripped bare, the windows are broken, the furniture is gone, the wood is rotting. Presumably these investors will buy up the $100 homes, spend $30,000 fixing them up, and then rent them out at $500+ a month. That makes 20% yield. Not sure who the tenants would be, but I assume social (i.e. unemployed) tenants, because there have been a lot of job losses in that part of the country in recent years (slow decline of the motor industry). Don't know how much the city, state, or federal government provides in rent cheques. Can anybody else fill in the details?
6. jackas said...
When Assetz goez buzt I'm going to pay for a pizz up in zentral london to which all hpc watcherz are invited.
7. layers said...
Hmm, and I bet foreign ownership comes with all sorts of traps resulting. For a start you'd have to pay foreign withholding tax on any profits, which from memory are around 35%, and then of course you'd need a management firm to run the tennants' requests, and in Detroit how many windows or break-ins occur! Suddenly a 20% potential return would be more like 5% and comes with a terrible headache because you're so far away geographically and don't know the area.
Wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole!
8. Letsgetreadytotumble said...
According to my American friend, the cheap house are in really rough areas, and the soft as sh!t Brits won't be a match for the hard nosed Yanks.
Hasn't Assetz worked out yet why even the natives are not 'investing'.
9. mander said...
Dear Comedy Club,
Already built houses are for people to live in not for investors. Investing is welcome but in building new homes if needed otherwise first time buyers who are more credit worthy will be in general outbid by unecessary offers.
10. quiet guy said...
@jackas
"When Assetz goez buzt"
Sadly, that isn't going to happen, Law's business model is to charge services to people who want to invest in property. Whether those properties make money or not is irrelevant. All that Law has to do is keep attracting business so that he can keep charging for his services - hence the incessant ramping. It's quite clever in a diabolical sort of way. I think Law is going to way away from this in one piece. Some of his clients, however, will be roadkill.