Aussie hero R/E developer shot to death in Detroit

Bird Dog

Bird Dog

Sometimes the risks in pursuing your dreams don't always come from the property itself..:(
Quote:
An Australian real estate developer proclaimed a hero by tenants in the crime and recession plagued US city of Detroit has been shot to death.

Greg McNichols, 45, bought a two-story apartment complex on Detroit's east side in February, a building in such disrepair residents described it as a "rat trap", but through the Australian's hard work it began to transform into a livable environment.

Mr McNichols was beloved by most of his tenants and nicknamed the "Crocodile Hunter", however, on Saturday evening he became embroiled in a confrontation at the front of the property with a woman whom other residents said was behind on her rent.

I hope this wasn't one of our fellow members..(apologies if this has been posted already)

Full article here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9348487/aussie-hero-shot-to-death-in-detroit/
 
Bird Dog said:
Sometimes the risks in pursuing your dreams don't always come from the property itself..:(
Quote:
An Australian real estate developer proclaimed a hero by tenants in the crime and recession plagued US city of Detroit has been shot to death.

Greg McNichols, 45, bought a two-story apartment complex on Detroit's east side in February, a building in such disrepair residents described it as a "rat trap", but through the Australian's hard work it began to transform into a livable environment.

Mr McNichols was beloved by most of his tenants and nicknamed the "Crocodile Hunter", however, on Saturday evening he became embroiled in a confrontation at the front of the property with a woman whom other residents said was behind on her rent.

I hope this wasn't one of our fellow members..(apologies if this has been posted already)

Full article here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9348487/aussie-hero-shot-to-death-in-detroit/
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Wow - and that is probably why they don't have a property managing industry like we do here - to many guns :(
 
he became embroiled in a confrontation at the front of the property with a woman whom other residents said was behind on her rent

Why would anyone in their right mind go to Detroit to renovate a block of apartments?
 
awful - gunned down whilst trying to improve the social conditions of many. he was deserving of so much better.

too many guns in the usa for my liking.
 
landlubber said:
That's Detroit. Check the lots of videos on Youtube. Search "Detroit abandoned houses" and roam from there. VERY HI-RISK venture, and that's before you take the proliferation of guns into account.
LL
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It looks very much the kind of place you hope your car
doesn't break down in as you're driving through.

To think of staying and doing business with the locals would be crazy - the financial rewards would have to be fantastic to do so and then you would have to be brave.

You would think as a RE agent he should have known better.

Still... it's very sad.
 
Oh I know about the abandoned houses in Detroit/dwindling population/plans to raze a quarter of the city etc, I just think it's very sad. I'd personally never go to the place at all, since I get into enough trouble when I go to Melbourne/Sydney after being brought up in Darwin, where people routinely sort things out 1 on 1 on the street and there is a sense of old school fair play. Down south you're up against gangs, weapons etc - I'd probably meet a similar fate to the guy in the article were I to go someplace infested with guns under the assumption that everybody else had the same sense of fairness, so it makes sense for me to very nicely stay put or hang out in the more civilised European countries. I have too much to live for and too many people to badly annoy before I die :p
 
lizzie said:
....

too many guns in the usa for my liking.
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Guns don't kill people.... People kill people....

Desperate people tend to do desperate things, and there are some desperados in Detroit, that's for sure. I once thought the social class divide in Australia was bad, but it is downright nasty in the US. Almost like having pockets of the 3rd world embedded in a developed nation.... actually, not almost, that is exactly how it is.

Sad situation indeed. Very sobering :(
 
Sunfish said:
Guns don't kill people.... People with guns kill people....
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that's my thought too ... if there weren't guns then those trying to harm would have to resort to knives or iron rods. much better chance of surviving (and escaping) from hand to hand combat.

and believe me - after 10 years married (ex for another 12) to a rootin', shootin', utin' a'hole i have heard every gun excuse in the book.
 
Last edited:
When one guy has all the money the game ends!

Take a look at the charts in this link ...
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211168

This is root cause of USA's biggest social problem. The "top 1%" have been soooo effective in "loading the game" in their favour, that they've, in effect, got their hands on all the money in the monopoly game. The "rich" don't need to spend, and the "poor" don't have any to spend. Not only that, the poor are already underwater with existing debt/housing crisis/college fees etc. An example of this is the Warren Buffett's declaration that he pays less taxes than his secretary. That's a crazy, unsustainable situation. It's game over. Put all the stuff back in box.
LL
PS Needless to say, IMO this proves the "trickle down effect" where wealth flows from the wealthiest to the "lower levels" is all BS.
 
Sunfish said:
Guns don't kill people.... People with guns kill people....
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Yep. Regardless of intention, no guns, no-one can get killed by a gun.

A mate of mine grew up on a property in central NSW with his two brothers. Is asked him what he thought of guns. His response was that they never had guns on the farm. His old man was concerned about the risks involved, so they simply never had them. And the farm didn't suffer a bit.
 
It's a very sad comentary on US gun laws. This guy would likely still be alive if there were higher restrictions on guns in the US.

I've got no problem with people in certain occupations owning certain types of guns. My father owns a rifle and on more than one occassion has had to use it for beef production and putting down livestock injured by bushfire. It's not something that has ever needed to be even picked up in self defence.

I can't seen any reason for a semi-automatic rilfe or a handgun to be in a persons home at all.

Some people have legitimate interests in sport shooting. If this is the case, there's no reason why handguns shouldn't be kept in a safe at a registered shooting range.

The US argument that citizens have a right to arms so the government can't get to powerful is rubbish. Most citizens would never survive against a miliatry organisation. Self defence is also rubbish. If the other guy shoots first and hits, the target usually can't shoot back at that point.

The best way to avoid gun fatilities is simply not to put them into the hands of people in the first place.
 
VYBerlinaV8 said:
Perhaps one of the single gentlemen here can step up to the plate...
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ah - happily (most of the time ) remarried for the last 12 years. :D except for when he thinks he's entitled to an opinion in the layout of my new kitchen - oh, and the ensuite.

totally agree pt bear.
 
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