Investor doubles down in Detroit

Sterling Howard is betting big on Detroit – and it’s a gamble this real estate expert expects to win.

Howard is the managing director of Silver Capital Group in Farmington Hills. Its role in Detroit over the past few years has been to acquire properties with huge potential, get them ready for the market and rent them to tenants who may want to buy them someday.

*Investor Sterling Howard says there is great opportunity to renovate and sell Detroit properties for profit.*

Detroit real estate is the right investment for many reasons, Howard believes. It starts with putting people in those homes. Later, he believes his investment, plus a market resurgence, will prove financially sound and then some.

In other words, buy low and sell high, Howard notes. The key element to his efforts is that he looks for neighborhoods with life in them – life that is enhanced when more people move into the area and encourage their family and friends to do the same.

Most of Silver Capital Group’s homes were foreclosures and bank short sales. He believes with minimal investment his business can make a sizable profit. More importantly, it gives his tenants a toehold into Detroit, a city that has shown it is growing at a steady pace both in terms of commercial and downtown properties.

Howard knows with rehab, renovation and a touch of inspiration, Detroit’s single-family homes and close-knit neighborhoods can be brought back to their former glory. He doesn’t want to see homes demolished. Instead, he sees them as homes worthy of investment.

Photos by Paul Engstrom