Purchase Price
$27,500
Detroit · Section 8 Rental, then Flip · Sold
A $27,500 Section 8 rental, then a $159,800 sale.
A Great Lakes PMG consulting client bought this Detroit house, made it rent-ready on a light budget, and rented it to a Section 8 tenant for six years. We managed the tenancy and collected every dollar. Then the owner chose to flip it: a full renovation for buyers, and a sale in February 2026. Our in-house team did both renovations.
PROPERTY: 20xxx Greydale, Detroit, MI · STRATEGY: Rent, then renovate and sell · HELD: 2019 to Feb 2026
166.4%
Total ROI
$133,940
Total Return
$68,300
Rent Collected
$159,800
Sale Price
Total Invested
$80,500
Months Rented
73 (~6 years)
Outcome
Sold Feb 2026
The Finished House
A Detroit bungalow, renovated twice.
Listing photos after the second renovation, the one done for buyers: kitchen, floors, paint, bathroom, the upstairs bedrooms, and a front porch that stands out on the block.
The Story
Rent first. Flip later.
A Great Lakes PMG consulting client bought 20xxx Greydale for $27,500. The first renovation was built for renting, not for buyers: our in-house team spent $13,000 to make the house rent-ready, for $40,500 all-in.
At that cost, a modest rent made sense. A Section 8 household moved in in May 2019 at $900 a month, and the rent rose $100 to $1,000 in April 2023. We managed the tenancy for six years and collected $68,300, every dollar due, more than the house had cost to buy and fix up.
The light renovation paid for itself in rent. The heavy one went in only when it was time to sell.
Then the owner chose to flip it. Our team came back for a second renovation of $40,000, which took the house from a solid rental to a finish buyers pay for, bringing the total invested to $80,500. It sold for $159,800 in February 2026.
The Timeline
Two renovations, six years of rent, one sale.
Before May 2019
Bought for $27,500, made rent-ready for $13,000
A consulting client's purchase. A light renovation by our in-house team, aimed at a durable rental, for $40,500 all-in.
May 2019
Section 8 tenant placed at $900 a month
Managed by Great Lakes PMG. 47 months at $900.
April 2023
Rent rises to $1,000 a month
A $100 increase, then 26 more months through May 2025.
After May 2025
The owner chooses to flip: a $40,000 renovation
A full renovation for buyers by our in-house team, bringing the total invested to $80,500.
February 2026
Sold for $159,800
$79,300 above the total invested, before selling costs.
Income Detail
Six years of Section 8 rent, all of it collected.
One household, 73 months, one rent increase. Section 8 rent is paid largely by the housing authority, which is a big part of why it showed up every month. Our Section 8 landlord guide covers how it works in Detroit.
| Lease rate | Period | Months | Rent Collected |
|---|---|---|---|
| $900/mo | May 2019 – Mar 2023 | 47 | $42,300 |
| $1,000/mo | Apr 2023 – May 2025 | 26 | $26,000 |
| Total Rent Collected | 73 | $68,300 | |
The Numbers
Every dollar in, every dollar out.
The rent side is net of management and a maintenance reserve. Actual maintenance costs aren't in our data, so we use a 10% reserve as an estimate. Selling costs, property taxes, and insurance aren't included.
Capital In
| Purchase priceBought with consulting help | $27,500 |
| First renovationRent-ready · $40,500 all-in as a rental | $13,000 |
| Second renovationFull renovation for buyers · 2025 | $40,000 |
| Total Invested | $80,500 |
Rent
| Rent collectedSection 8 · 73 months · 2019 to 2025 | $68,300 |
| Management fee10% of rent collected | −$6,830 |
| Maintenance reserve10% estimate · actual costs not in our data | −$6,830 |
| Net Rental Income | $54,640 |
Sale
| Sale priceFebruary 2026 | $159,800 |
| Less total invested | −$80,500 |
| Sale GainBefore selling costs | $79,300 |
Total Return
| Sale gain | $79,300 |
| Net rental income | $54,640 |
| Total ReturnBefore selling costs, property taxes, and insurance | $133,940 |
The Rental
Net rent against the $40,500 all-in rental cost
134.9%
$54,640 net rent. The rental paid back its whole cost, and then some, before the flip.
Headline
Total return on everything invested
166.4%
$133,940 on $80,500 over about 6¾ years. A 2.66× equity multiple.
The Flip
Sale price minus total invested
$79,300
Before selling costs, on a house bought for $27,500
Reading This Honestly
What these numbers do and don't include.
This one worked out. Here's what to keep in mind before reading it as a plan. For a flip ledger with every selling cost included, see the Stansbury case study.
Costs not shown
Selling costs, property taxes, and insurance all come out of the total return. We don't have them for this house, so we don't estimate them.
10% reserve
Maintenance is a 10% reserve, not the actual repair spend. A house with more or fewer repairs would land on either side of it.
Two standards
The rental renovation and the buyer renovation were different jobs. Spending buyer-grade money on a rental rarely pays back in rent.
Flip or Rent?
The real-world version of the flip-or-rent decision.
Most investors frame it as one choice made on the day they buy. Greydale shows it can be two choices, years apart. The low purchase price and light first renovation kept the all-in cost where $900 of Section 8 rent worked. The bigger renovation came later, when the owner decided to sell, and it went into a house that had already earned back its rental cost in rent.
That doesn't make it the right order for every house. It depends on the price, the block, your financing, and how long your capital can stay put. Our guide to flipping vs. renting in Detroit walks through the trade-offs. To test both paths on a specific house, run the rental side through the DSCR loan calculator and the sale side through the fix-and-flip calculator, or see how we run flips with investors.
Next Steps
Run both sets of numbers before you buy.
Talk through a flip
Book a call to walk through budget, timeline, and the kind of house that fits.
Book a call →
Flip a Detroit house with us
You provide the capital; we find, renovate, and sell it, and split the profit 50/50.
See how a partner flip works →
Investment consulting
Sourcing, acquisition, renovation, and exit for Detroit investors, local or out of state.
See how consulting works →
Run your own numbers
Plug in a purchase price, rehab budget, and resale value to see what a flip leaves after costs.
Open the fix-and-flip calculator →
Past performance of a single property is not a guarantee of future results.
Rent it, flip it, or both?
We run the rental numbers and the flip numbers on the same house before you buy, and we manage the rental for as long as you hold it. Founder and Managing Member Clarence Archibald III has completed 350+ property rehabs since Great Lakes PMG opened in 2006.
Book an Investor ConsultationGreat Lakes Property Management Group, LLC · Detroit, Michigan · greatlakespmg.com