White couple spent all their savings to renovate house that's now worth 100K less

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/your-money/in-a-big-hole-for-a-detroit-house-but-happy.html

Couple

House

Why is it so important that they were white? I’m sure that a lot of people have made home improvements that ended up being costly mistakes.

What race is this couple?

Oh wait, it’s right there in your title. Never mind.
mmm

Ok, so they’re white, but are they the good white?

This is as clear a case for white reparations as I’ve ever seen!

Look at the pic of the house. Edison Bulbs… That is soooooooo last year!!

My white sister bought a house in Milwaukee in the 1950s, paid almost as much again over the years for improvements and maintenance, and sold it in the 1990s for less than the original purchase price. It has something to do with the changing demographics of the neighborhood. A phenomenon in which the color of the occupants is relevant to the economics of property values, whether it is politically correct to believe that or not. There, I’ve said it. And now i have to be sent off for sensitivity re-programming.

To be clear, the house is appraised at $265,000 more than they bought it for. They spent too much on construction, hiring a general contractor who apparently went way over budget. But it looks nice, they say they’re happy–I hope it works out for them. They have a good income. If they stay there, it won’t necessarily matter in the long run what the house is “worth” now.

White people be all shopping at the Restoration Hardware!

The article says some of the money came from retirement accounts, and the rest was borrowed, so I guess I have to conclude it was a bad investment.

If they’d been millionaires and able to pay for this out of pocket or with a reasonable mortgage, then I’d shrug and chalk it up to personal preference. We all have expenses that other people might not agree with. But no… even in a rising housing market where they might recoup the cash, I’d still someone in this financial situation made a bad investment. You do not put all your eggs in one basket and then throw in debt on top of it.

They picked the wrong damned house - even if it is in an area of $5M houses, that one just reeks.

The kitchen is too small, the “bedroom” in which they are seated is WAY too small.

3000 sq feet CAN be rehabbed to a modern home - BUT: you need to move walls.
Those houses were all show, no go.

How they managed to find one with no more than a galley kitchen is a puzzle,
I suspect there are parlor - maybe even a double-parlor (modern version: “Nice” LR, a FR which the kids can room at will) and large dining room. The bedrooms were tiny and had few closets.

I’d love to see the floor plan - I’m guessing it is a multi-level, which precludes gaining space by moving walls.

Two 1500 sq ft floors can be real limiting.

And they had single bathrooms; if you’re lucky, they are “split bath” which can be made into two room.

Another vote for “Why ‘White’?” Is the area 99.9% Black, whch, of course drags down property values? Are the 1950’s alive and well in Detroit?

Of course it was a bad investment. They didn’t know much of anything about construction; people who put substantial money into things they don’t know anything about, generally lose. But they’re not necessarily worse off than a lot of people that bought overpriced real estate and construction already done for them. At least these folks got to get into the design choices before and during, and get a place that’s really theirs.

Except, of course, if they stay there, they will suffer the burden of lower property taxes.

Who gives a shit that it was White people?

I bought my last house in 2007, sold it in 2012 for $30K less then I paid for it. After putting in about $40K of renovations. Adding in the realtor commission and sales fees, I lost near $100K.

Where’s the NY Times article featuring me???

I thought “sucks to be me” and moved on, like thousands of others. Why the f*ck is this a story? Except that these people were idiots using money they didn’t have.

I’m guessing: people who don’t give a shit what happens to white people?

Well, they’re not the worst kind of white. Those are the ones who put the swastika tattoo on their forehead.

Looking for clues, I searched for images of white supremacists, and it turns out that, almost universally, the only ones wearing beards have either unkempt hair or shaved heads.

This guy might be OK, if a bit nerdy. I suggest we see if he’ll lend us his lawnmower.

Beyond idiots - as was their friends/relatives that donated money.

Anyone with half a brain knows the whole location, location, location thing - almost none of the houses in that neighborhood rent for more than $900 - and to think you can buy a house in a neighborhood where houses don’t seem to go much above 100k -and put 3-4x what it could be worth - is silly.

Sure someone might want a $400k house - but they buy it in neighborhoods with other 400k houses.

Detroit isn’t known for its robust real estate market.

But then again they got listed in NYT - I don’t get what good their book would be. Kinda like buying a book by Trump on woman’s issues.

Why people would think buying a piece of junk in a city known for decline is a good idea - is beyond me.

Doesn’t matter if they were white, peach, purple, blue or calico.

Ultimately, if they have the ability to recoup the money for their retirement fund before they have to retire, it doesn’t hurt them to have rehabbed this house. As an investment? Probably not a great idea, but if they like it, are happy there, and got what they wanted, then good for them.

If they had fix and flip in mind, they were insane.

I hate When Bad Things Happen to White People.

I can’t imagine the house I’d sink my savings into in Detroit. Their real estate market’s problems aren’t exactly secret. For $400,000 I’d want something with this foyer before renovation.

I get the feeling that the OP figured people would read Detroit, assume the couple was black, and be harsher on them because of it.

Well, this board is known for being harsh on black folks, so I can see why someone might figure that.