Here's something we've been pondering for a while. When you google map an address in the "48203" zip code, it will often pop up as a Highland Park address, even if the property is in Detroit. The two separate cities share this zip code, but not much in the way of an architecture aesthetic. So is this problem hurting the Palmer Woods and Palmer Park neighborhoods (in Detroit) in the real estate listings? When you use a program like Zillow or Trulia, it is not smart enough to know what city the listing is really in. Take for instance the gem pictured above. It certainly has all the curb appeal of an amazeballs mansion and it's definitely in Palmer Park, which is an important selling point. The hood is a historic district on what was once the estate of Thomas Palmer. Most of the buildings were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s and the area has some immense parkage (296 acres of greenery and historic woodlands!)
Here's a google map pin in Palmer Park, but check out the text. It's still saying Highland Park. Same thing happens in the Zillow listing. As if Detroit real estate agents did not have it hard enough (we may whine about your bad photography, but we know your job is tough!) they can't rely on the internet to say a house is in an interesting historic hood instead of one with an Emergency Manager for the school system. How to compensate? Well, there is always typing in all caps.
LOCATED ON THE GOLF COURSE, THIS HOME IS SPECTACULAR. THIS FABULOUS HOME WILL SELL QUICKLY, THIS IS ONE OF DETROITS PREMIER EXCLUSIVE NEIGHBORHOODS! SELLER IS REPAIRING WHILE LISTED. The 5,000 square foot home is asking $168,000 for five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and an advocate to tell google maps and Zillow they are so wrong.
Update: What we meant was, HP's really got a recent PR crisis via the school system whereas Detroit... has one too... but it is older? Eff it. Who buys real estate based on schools? Not our drunk ass. Name one Highland Park bar. Not there's your selling snafu.
· Hamilton Rd [Zillow]
· Gorgeous Tudor Home is Price Confused, Worth Looking Into [Curbed Detroit]
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