GeoK Under 
Tags: In 2006 Metro Detroit real estate started getting national and international attention as a depressed real estate market. Many “buy and hold” investors saw Detroit as a great opportunity to buy cash flowing real estate at all time low prices. One such investor was Joe Traficante of Southern California. Joe was attracted to metro Detroit real estate because of the low price entry and positive cash flow and he began hunting for properties in mid 2006. At the same time, local resident and full-time real estate investor, Jerry Norton saw an opportunity to assist “out-of-state” investors by wholesaling them properties. In late 06, Jerry and Joe met and Jerry began finding properties for Joe. Before long, Joe had other investors that were interested in Detroit real estate and in early 2007, Joe and Jerry started selling properties to other interested investors and thus, Equity Services, LLC was formed.
The company has sold over 150 properties since then to investors from all over the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. The company model is different than other wholesalers who sell properties to out-of-state investors. Most other wholesalers sell properties that are un-renovated and offer to renovate the property after purchase for a certain price. According to Joe, “The problem is that investors put up money to buy a property, then have to hire contractors and wait for the renovations to be completed. Often times the rehab cost exceeds the originally anticipated or quoted price. Once the rehab is finally complete, the property manager starts working on getting a tenant. During all this time, the investor has money invested and no return yet.” Joe and Jerry decided from the beginning to take a different approach with Detroit real estate. Their properties are all fully renovated before being offered for sale to an investor. Once the renovations are complete, the property manager steps in and begins the process to secure a tenant. Often times, an investor purchases a property with a tenant already in place! This ‘turnkey” approach has served them well. Jerry and Joe have found that investors want a property ready to go and already cash flowing. One thing Jerry and Joe do to really show off their properties is what they call a “rehab slideshow.” They take several pictures of the condition of the property at the time they purchased it as a foreclosure. Once the rehab is complete, they take pictures from the same angle and build a “before” and “after” slideshow. Jerry confesses, “This has been a big success. Investors get a real good idea of what was done to the property and are always impressed with the amount of work and the high level of workmanship that goes into each property. “ In addition to the slideshow, they also provide a “walkthrough” video of the property. Basically, once the rehab is complete, they walk through the property explaining what was done during the rehab. Jerry believes, “pictures say one thing but investors can really understand the flow of the house and the layout by watching the videos.” While the price on their homes is very attractive at under $50,000, what most people like is the fact that the homes are the best renovated on the market. Joe brags, “no one does a better rehab! We understand that buyers are holding these properties for long-term gain and as such we need to give them an outstanding property.” From new roofs, windows, plumbing, electrical, carpet, paint, ceramic tile, kitchens, bathrooms, etc., everything is done from top to bottom! To help investors crunch the numbers, Joe and Jerry also provide what they call a “financial analysis” for each Detroit real estate property. It is a one-page PDF document that outlines, rental income, all the expenses, cash flow, return on investment, etc. All of the videos, spreadsheets and pertinent information for each property is readily available and easy to understand and can be found on their Detroit real estate website. Viewers can watch videos, compare properties, look at pictures, etc at their own leisure. Jerry and Joe also offer other tools and information on their website to help investors understand and feel comfortable with investing in Detroit real estate.
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