Real Estate Sales, Leasing, Management & Investments
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From Paris to the Paris of the Midwest: French investors see potential"The land is very beautiful and appropriate to build a city later on," wrote Cadillac in a letter to the French minister responsible for the Detroit colonies. "The various things one finds in this Land make it very pleasant." Three centuries later, Detroit has another Frenchman looking out at that same river, with that same vision. From the 17th floor of Spinnaker Tower, just off East Jefferson, Laurent Diemunsch is standing in the living room of his newly purchased two-bedroom high-rise apartment. The Detroit River and Belle Isle are beaming through a foggy sliding glass door to the balcony. "I see that the future can be better here," he says, slowly, looking for the words. The apartment isn't for him to live in, though. He bought it to rent out; he bought it as an investment. Diemunsch isn't an investor in the sense that you might think. He's not buying 100 foreclosures and selling them on Craigslist. He's a flight attendant, who happens to own an apartment in the Spinnaker and another in New Center, on Pallister. And he already has a tenant. Diemunsch may be less tuned in with honest to goodness investors and more in step with his compatriot Mr. Cadillac. The two Frenchman both saw not only opportunity but also potential and a future in the wilderness off the banks of a river. "I can see what this city can become," Diemunsch says, unknowingly paraphrasing from Cadillac's letters. Yet the headlines about Detroit overseas (or anywhere for that matter) aren't exactly golden. In fact, according to Diemunsch, they are terrible. So, how did this French flight attendant with spiky, jet-black hair end up roaming the streets of Detroit? Well, the Internet, naturally, and a local French speaking real estate agent, Sabra Sanzotta, whose husband also hails from France. "I saw Detroit on the Internet, I saw some really bad things," Diemunsch says. We can all imagine what those "things" were. "Then I made some research and it wasn't like that. I came to Detroit (to meet with Sanzotta). I saw downtown Detroit, some of the neighborhoods. I thought it was beautiful. It was impressive to me." So impressive that Diemunsch brought some back up on his most recent visit. In tow was his father, Jean Claude, a fellow flight attendant, Nathalie Krief, and Krief's brother, Nimrod. And the French entourage kept busy. Jean Claude closed on one property at St. Anne's Gate and has another offer pending in New Center. And Nimrod has an accepted offer at Spinnaker, which should close sometime this month. Sanzotta, who will act as the property manager for these spaces, says they should have tenants six weeks after closing. Let's not kid ourselves. Though Diemunsch and his posse aren't big time rollers, flipping houses like a short order cook flips flapjacks, they're still trying to make a buck. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, Sanzotta says. Now there are fewer foreclosed, empty condos in Detroit, more renovated upscale rental properties available for those who want to live downtown, and more homeowner dues coming in to the developments, she says, "which in turn keeps the maintenance up and the resale value spiraling upwards. Plus, as they keep drying up the inventory, (there will be) more demand for fewer properties." That would help prices recover. However, right now, Detroit property is cheap. Not just cheap, it's really, really cheap, and abundant. The Euro is stronger than the dollar and that bodes well for foreign investors, including French flight attendants, and the fathers and brothers of said flight attendants. They can pick up property along the riverfront or right downtown for the price of a small car. Something that, in other cities – like Paris or London or New York – is impossible. Flags might already be going off and some of you are probably saying to yourself, "But Detroit isn't Paris or London or New York. They are completely different markets." "Foreigners have a different mindset (when it comes to real estate)," says real estate broker Joy Santiago. "People in the tri-county area see these property values every day and compare them to their own. But if you compare them to New York City's riverfront or Chicago's riverfront, there's a definite difference." And a definite draw, she says. Santiago says the perception of Detroit's real estate is totally different from across the pond. In urban centers in foreign cities, properties are either outrageously expensive or, as they are passed from family to family, nonexistent. Even though property can be had for a song in other parts of the United States, real estate investment is still coming to Detroit. "Investors see the potential of growth (in Detroit), not decline," she says. "I think it's a symbol of hope," Sanzotta says. "Coming half way around the world, investing on the potential of Detroit, when some won't even come down here for dinner, it's inspiring." One thing you get from the flight attendants is that they talk about and see Detroit as a commodity, a place to go, to be. As flight attendants, they see hundreds of cities a year, so it would seem that they would know a cool place when they see it. "This is my first time in Detroit," says Nathalie, Diemunsch's fellow flight attendant. "But what I see here is people willing to take risks on Detroit's potential. I feel new life here in Detroit. Nice people, new neighborhoods, and good rentability. There's a bourgeois bohemian lifestyle here." Bourgeois bohemian? "Yeah," she says. "It's a good thing." Terry Parris Jr. writes for Model D. Send feedback here. All Photographs © Marvin Shaouni Photography
Luring Foreclosure Buyers on Detroit's 'Lonely Homes' Tour
Joy Santiago is a real estate agent who has organized a "Lonely Homes Tour" of foreclosed properties in Indian Village, one of Detroit's last stately, middle-class neighborhoods.
Steven Gray for TIME
On a recent Sunday afternoon, Joy Santiago, a real estate agent, stood atop the front steps of a vacant, eight-bedroom colonial-style mansion, bullhorn in hand. "Alright, 10 minutes," she declared, ushering in the 50 or so people on the Lonely Homes Tour, an aggressive effort to sell foreclosed properties in one of Detroit's last solidly middle-class neighborhoods. (See pictures of the Lonely Homes Tour.) Even with an abundance of home bargains — the red-brick, 97-year-old colonial's asking price was $29,000 — that's no easy task. If there's any city that symbolizes the most extreme effects of the nation's economic crisis and, in particular, its housing crisis, it is Detroit. The median home sale price here has plunged from $59,700 in August 2005 to $8,000 just two months ago. Nearly one-quarter of the 4,200 homes for sale in Detroit are foreclosed, and already dismal sales fell nearly 20% from September of 2008 to this year. In a city where the population has plummeted from 2 million in the 1950s to barely 900,000 today, vast stretches of once robust blocks have become fields of weeds and rubble.
Those grimmest aspects of Detroit city life are just a few blocks from Indian Village, where the Lonely Homes Tour took place on a recent Sunday. For decades, the neighborhood managed to defy that fate. It was carved in the late-1800s, barely three miles from Detroit's downtown, as an enclave for the city's emerging industrial barons. Even as Detroit's wealth moved further into the city's suburbs in the wake of World War II, Indian Village's Tudor- and Georgian-style homes — many with large back yards and carriage houses — attracted politically connected, white-collar professionals. But not even the neighborhood's lawyers, judges, principals and auto-industry executives have been immune to the economic crisis battering Michigan, the state saddled with America's highest unemployment rate. Some have lost their homes. Some who've left have been unwilling to lower their home's prices. At the same time, banks have become more discerning in issuing mortgages to prospective buyers. By one estimate, about 15% of the 350 homes that comprise Indian Village are foreclosed. (See pictures of the remains of Detroit.) Residents have taken various steps to prevent vacant properties from becoming magnets for criminals: Regularly mowing lawns, installing curtains, or even baby monitors. Detroit's crime, failing schools and the shortage of supermarkets selling fresh, reasonably priced fruits, vegetables and meats have been barriers to attracting the kind of professionals that have transformed other once struggling cities. One longtime resident, Steve Wasko, recalls real estate agents dismissing Indian Village, saying, "We don't have time to come 'down there,' like 'down there' is crossing some line you never travel without a passport." Some agents, Wasko says, simply gave the keys and alarm codes of homes to prospective buyers without bothering to vet their backgrounds. "That's like giving the goods to potential thieves," he says. Last year, a group of Indian Village residents launched a search for a real estate agent who would commit to the neighborhood. They soon found Santiago. She'd left Ann Arbor, Mich., for Detroit in the late-1980s to work as a booking agent for techno music DJs. By the late-1990s, she'd become a real estate agent, and frequently worked in Indian Village. The timing was good back then: In her first year, Santiago says she sold one house a week. "Everyone had a job, everyone wanted to have the American dream — homeownership," the 41-year-old says. (See The Detroit Blog's coverage of the city.) One of Santiago's first marketing ideas was what she christened the Lonely Homes Tour. The first tour, in September 2008, drew car loads of prospective buyers. More importantly, it generated considerable buzz about Indian Village's mansions. The next installment came last month. Residents lined the leafy streets leading up to Indian Village with ads promoting the tour. Of course, they also touted the event on Facebook. And lo and behold, there wasn't a single empty seat on the two tours' busses. A caravan followed Santiago to each of the seven stops. At one point, the caravan rolled up to a sturdy, four-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot colonial built in 1925, that's priced at $39,000. Then came the tour's most expensive home: an eight-bedroom, 8,500-square-foot 1917 colonial. The price: $189,000. One woman covered her nose to keep the smell of mildew away. Her husband carefully took notes about the cracked wooden floors. People looked in awe inside the elevator of one house. Santiago stood by, answering questions about the house's history and its original owners, handing out business cards to the young and middle-aged professionals from the suburbs or downtown condos looking to trade up to bigger home at a bargain. (See pictures of a day in the life of Detroit's Mayor Bing.) So far, Indian Village residents seem satisfied. Wasko says: "If I were a real estate agent, I'd act like Joy: I'd work my butt off on Sunday afternoon, and not roll my eyes and say, 'maybe this won't get the sale.'" That effort just might be paying off. One day after the tours, Santiago says she had gotten several calls for second showings. About six people from the Lonely Homes Tours have made offers. "People heard about Indian Village, but without an event like this," Santiago says, "they wouldn't have made it." as Featured in Tell Us Detroit.com Foreclosure prevention laws now in effect
as Featured in Model D, June 23, 2009 Selling Homes in Detroit: It's About More Than Just the Benjamins
June 23, 2009
If all you knew was what you saw in the national media, you'd think being a real estate agent in the city of Detroit would qualify you for a guest spot on the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" show. Talk of $100 houses makes Detroit seem like the blue-light special of real estate. Everyone from CNN on down is telling the story of out-of-state speculators snatching up Detroit property like the sample vultures at Costco mindlessly gorging on the freebies. It sounds sad and ugly.
There's some truth in those cheap property stories, but that's only one part of the real estate picture here. Enter Sabra Sanzotta's beautifully decorated live/work space in Eastern Market's FD Lofts, where swaths of luxurious fabric drape brick walls, silver cut out butterflies glimmer from the impossibly high ceilings and the kitchen gleams with fancy appliances. As Sanzotta sits, chatting and monitoring her buzzing cell phone, she doesn't seem on the precipice of defeat, gnashing her teeth and shaking her fist at the heavens. She offers no "why me?" diatribe and doesn't rail against the state of real estate. She just seems busy. Really busy. "This has been our best year," says the proprietor of The Loft Warehouse. You may have a hard time believing this, but she means that this year -- yes 2009 -- has been her best yet. Huh? Sanzotta isn't the only one telling that story. Realtors who specialize in the greater Downtown area and some of the city's more affluent neighborhoods say they aren't immune to the realities of a national mortgage crisis, sky-high home foreclosures and other unsavory economic realities. They aren't quitting the city either, not when there's good money to be made. Many of the city's agents are selling more than just cheap houses to scavengers. They are selling things like luxury lofts to happy new residents. They sell fixer uppers to families, condos to empty nesters. Good homes to people who will live in them. And Detroit agents are making money doing this, even if to do so they have to work their tails off and harder than ever. What are they buying? Oh, that mythic $100 house. It's out there, but most of us couldn't or wouldn't live there. While innovative projects like the internationally famous Mitch Cope/Gina Reichert Power House are extremely cool, not everyone has the guts or the vision to be gutsy and visionary. Some people want to buy a home, move in and live in it without first giving it an extreme makeover. You can do that in Detroit, real estate agents say, but you'll have to pay a little more than a Benjamin.  Joy Santiago, a real estate agent and resident of The Villages, says people who have been waiting are now moving forward to get into properties and neighborhoods that in another time would have been out of reach. "We've got the biggest opportunity ever to be able to purchase Riverfront, Downtown, or Midtown property," she says. Condos on the riverfront that were once six figures are going for less than $100,000. Houses in sought-after neighborhoods like The Villages -- historic homes that anywhere else in the nation would be worth millions -- are more affordable than ever. In Midtown on highly desirable historic Ferry Street, Sanzotta is selling new construction luxury condos at Centurion Place starting at $150,000 – about half of what they were selling for a couple years ago. One of Sanzotta's young professional customers, Damoni Hurt, a marketing manager for Ford who is in his 30s, was one of those waiting for the right time. He just bought a condo with a downtown view on E. Jefferson across from Belle Isle. "Now is the opportunity to transition from renting and sitting out to really jumping in," he says. Hurt bought a bank-owned condo for $80,000 in The Lofts at Rivertown, a building that a couple years ago had units going for at two to five times as much. He knew the location was perfect: He was living there already. "It was a no-brainer from a quality of life standpoint," Hurt says. "I was living in the same building renting, paying twice as much for rent."  And he was not just buying junk. His is a tri-level loft with high-end fixtures. "This is the whole kit and caboodle," he says. "It's a foreclosure, but it wasn't a falling apart, dilapidated kind of East Side house deal." The same space in downtown D.C. or Atlanta -- where he's lived before -- would have been out of his reach: "It'd be $1 million plus in D.C. In Atlanta, half a million easily," he says. In addition to foreclosures, real estate agents say another big part of their business right now is short sales. In these cases, they negotiate with the banks to let homeowners sell the homes for less than they owe, and then the banks forgive the difference. A short sale, however, is a lot more difficult and takes longer than a traditional sale, but agents say that when these short sales work out, it's a win-win for all the parties involved. In a short sale, the home won't sit empty, the seller gets out of the mortgage, the buyer gets a good deal and the agent gets a better commission than he or she would have gotten if the home was sold in a foreclosure. More than foreclosures Foreclosures and short sales aren't the only deals being made in the city. It's squishy, but there is still a market out there. Last month, Sanzotta sold a $165,000 condo in Harbortown to a firefighter who plans to retire on the riverfront. She's also closing on a $141,000 townhome in Corktown in a few days. Both are not foreclosures. Ryan Cooley of O'Connor Real Estate and Development in Corktown, says he's had a lot of demand for architecturally significant properties like the Mies van der Rohe townhomes in Lafayette Park. This month, in fact, he showed them to a couple from Baltimore, relocating here to work at Wayne State University. And it looks like they're buying.  Santiago just wrapped filming an episode of the ultra-addictive real estate drama "House Hunters" for HGTV. She showed the buyers three $400,000 properties -- all within Detroit's city limits. If you watch the show, which we already established that you do, you know they always buy something at the end.And real estate agent Austin Black II, who works a lot in his Midtown neighborhood, says a customer walked in recently and paid a cool half million cash for a penthouse loft in the new Willys Overland Lofts development in Midtown. Those stories -- market rate sales and big properties with high price tags -- might be more rare thanks to foreclosures and short sales, but they are out there. Who is buying? Black says 2009 is turning out to be a good year for him, as well, but he's had to hustle. "Part of it is, I am working with a lot more people, and you have to work a lot harder with those buyers," he says. Buyers have a lot more from which to choose, and they want to see the options, he says. "But it's paying off." There might be out-of-state speculators looking to buy up Detroit by the block, but Black, Sanzotta and others who regularly sell in the city say those customers aren't as frequent as one might think. And the media reports mislead people to believe that for pennies, they're going to get a great house. I've gotten calls from people who are not from this area and who are from other parts of the country, and their impression is that they are getting a livable home for $100 in a livable neighborhood," Black says. "I think you'll find the market is typically more stable in Midtown." OK, so who are the regular buyers? Sanzotta says many of her customers are professionals coming to work at the Medical Center. Black sells a lot to empty nesters, too. Cooley has a lot of customers relocating from out of state. Black does, too, and says that "95 percent of them grew up in the 'burbs, and a good percentage of that group has lived in cities across the country." They want an urban lifestyle, and they want it here. In Detroit, he says, new development has slowed but there's still a trickle, like the newly rehabbed condos on Mack in Brush Park that Black sells. Black says selling new condo developments is tricky right now because lenders want 15 percent down on condos not already half sold, and most buyers don't have that to pony up. Sanzotta is facing the same challenge at Centurion, but she's seeing new interest in the property. But even with the slowdown, Black says don't let those big media guys fool you: In Detroit, there's still plenty of life. "One of the unique things about the downtown and Midtown areas, we've lost some businesses and some of the developments that were proposed never got off the ground, but you still see businesses opening, places under construction, new restaurants," Black says. "I still see more people walking outside, more people walking and running. Things are still happening and people want to be down here." Press Release For Immediate Release “National HGTV Show "House Hunters" to Feature Detroit Realtor & Homebuyers” Metro Detroit, MI May 15, 2009. Pie Town Productions, a TV production company for Home and Garden Television (HGTV) is coming to Detroit film and episode for “House Hunters” a reality TV show that features buyers that are searching for a new home. HGTV and Pie Town Productions will be filming from Monday, May 18, through Thursday, May 21 in Detroit. “This is very exciting for the city & Downtown Detroit”, says Joy Santiago, Broker/Owner of Dwellings Unlimited, LLC, who will be the real estate expert for the episode. “It will give us an opportunity to show off some of the most beautiful homes in the area and to reveal to the nation what wonderful real estate choices we have in the city. The "House Hunters" (buyers) will be choosing from 3 unique and different homes: A loft at River Place Condos, a historic home in Indian Village and a condo in the Westin Book Cadillac. "We're totally excited at our options to purchase. Detroit has gorgeous homes, and compared to real estate around the country, dollar for dollar has the best value," says Jay Diem, the homebuyer that also will be featured on the show. Jay Diem, a IT Systems Analyst that has recently returned from working in Iraq for a government hired contracting company, and his wife, Boo-Young are the homebuyers that will be choosing their new home in the next few days. Joy Santiago has been an agent in the Metro Detroit Area for the past 12 years and is broker & co-owner of Dwellings Unlimited, llc a real estate sales, management and investment company, specializing in unique housing & investments. Contact Joy Santiago joy@dwellingsunlimited.com 313-980-0400 Dwellings Unlimited, llc www.differentdwellings.com www.dwellingsunlimited.com ### Great News for First-Time Home Buyers! HUD recently announced that qualified First-Time Home Buyers who want to take advantage of the available tax credit of up to $8,000 now have another option available to them to help them become homeowners.
as featured on in Model D, February 10, 2009  When HGTV looked at Detroit last spring to film several episodes of "My House is Worth What?" they turned to realtor Joy Santiago for possible locations. They ended up shooting two homes in Indian Village, one in Royal Oak and one in Southfield. The first of the four, a home in Indian Village on Seminole, will air at 11 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10.The home's owner, Michael Tyson, will be on the air along with Santiago. His 1911 colonial home is 6,000 square feet, has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half baths. The episode looks at whether or not he should continue renovations on the home. Read more about the filming of the shows and contact Santiago via her web site. Show info can be found here. Source: Joy Santiago, Dwellings Unlimited, LLC Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Metro home sales up Driven down by sales of foreclosed homes, median sale prices fell 34% in metro The median price on a house or condo sold in Foreclosures represented two-thirds of sales in For the wider metro area, the median sale price was down 34%, from $129,000 a year ago to $85,000 last month. "There's tons of properties out there that investors are snapping up and that skews the numbers," said Joy Santiago, a Southfield-based real estate broker. "You can't say in the city of Sales are picking up, she said. "People have to start realizing there are awesome deals out there, and it is just the time to purchase," Dan Elsea, president of brokerage services for Real Estate One in "We are seeing that low end of the market sell quicker. If you have a $75,000 house in the city of He said that if investor activity is factored out, the true price depreciation in metro Realcomp reported that 5,818 sales of houses and condos in the metro area were concluded during September, up 57% from 3,703 sales in the same month a year ago. The figures consist of closed sales reported by Realtors who subscribe to the service. More than 37% of the September sales in the metro area were foreclosures, according to Karen Kage, Realcomp president. But have we hit bottom yet? "It is near impossible for me to say we are near done," Kage said. And pending sales in September were up 75%, to 7,832 from 4,472 in September 2007. Pending sales are those with signed purchase agreements that have not closed. With the credit crunch and falling prices, more pending deals are falling apart at the closing table. In September, 1,265 properties went back on the market that were either pending or withdrawn from the market. That compares with 732 properties put back on the market in September 2007, Kage said. "It's not the best news ever," Kage said of the falling sales prices. "We have said all along that until we weed out some of the inventory, we will not see prices rise." Realcomp also reported that housing inventory in metro Contact GRETA GUEST at 313-223-4192 or gguest@freepress.com.
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As Featured in MODEL D, September 23, 2008
Villages open house set for Sep. 27 to show off available homes
The Villages of Detroit -- including nine East Side neighborhoods, such as the Berry Sub, Indian Village and West Village, will host an open house on Sept. 27 from 1-5 p.m. to introduce prospective residents to the community.Th "Living in the V" Real Estate Open house will include a Lonely Homes Tour of eight to 10 foreclosed properties, conducted by Realtor Joy Santiago. This specific tour will take off at both 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. from the Parkstone Apartments, 1415 Parker, the welcome center for the day's events.
Corporate Cars, sponsors of the Lonely Homes Tour, will have a limo available at the welcome center to transport participants of the tour around the neighborhoods or participants can tour in their own vehicle. Information on 203k rehab loan programs and other means of financing will also be available.
There are other ways to see the neighborhood too, including self-guided tours of for-sale properties. Lists can be obtained at the Parkstone, where refreshments and information about area schools and businesses will be offered as well.
Finally, a bike tour will take in the neighborhood and the welcome center; it leaves at 1 p.m. from Wheelhouse Detroit in Rivard Plaza on the RiverWalk.
Kirsten Ussery of the Villages CDC hopes prospective residents take advantage of the open house. "The best hope is that we were able to attract buyers to the area and that people are interested in the properties that they see."
She says that between her neighborhood's proximity to amenities as well as its sense of community, she wouldn't live anywhere else. "It's a walkable community, very close to the riverfront and Belle Isle," says Ussery. "You couldn't ask for a better location in the city."
Source: Kirsten Ussery, The Villages CDC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
