Go against the flow

My Two Dollars yesterday had an interesting post about Detroit and how property values have fallen hard there, and probably have more room to fall. A few samples:

At least 16 Detroit houses up for sale on Sunday sold for $30,000 or less.

A boarded-up bungalow on the city’s west side brought $1,300. A four-bedroom house near the original Motown recording studio sold for $7,000.

Now, let me say that I would never live in Detroit. But I've seen that when everyone seems to be saying that it's crazy to own or buy property in an area, it's time to take a hard look at that area because some good values can often be found. Detroit isn't going to disappear tomorrow. It might be a little shaky there, but they'll recover, and when they do, some of those dirt-cheap houses will sell for 10x or 20x what they were bought for. Those investors will invariably be viewed by many as "lucky" but as someone once said:

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
-Seneca