Detroit homes sell for $1 amid mortgage and car industry crisis

[xmas13]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...oreclosures-80

Some might say Jon Brumit overpaid when he stumped up $100 (£65) for a whole house. Drive through Detroit neighbourhoods once clogged with the cars that made the city the envy of America and there are homes to be had for a single dollar.

You find these houses among boarded-up, burnt-out and rotting buildings lining deserted streets, places where the population is shrinking so fast entire blocks are being demolished to make way for urban farms.

"I was living in Chicago and a friend told me that houses in Detroit could be had for $500," said Brumit, a financially strapped artist who thought he had little prospect of owning his own property. "I said if you hear of anything just a little cheaper let me know. Within a week he emails me a photo of a house for $100. I thought that's just crazy. Why not? It's a way to cut our expenses way down and kind of open up a lot of time for creative projects because we're not working to pay the rent."

Houses on sale for a few dollars are something of an urban legend in the US on the back of the mortgage crisis that drove millions of people from their homes. But in Detroit it is no myth.

[fatfoo]

Buying a house for $100!

This is an excellent option for a homeless person. Excellent.

A homeless person can collect $100 within days by begging.

[WiredGuy]

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

[Agent 488]

things finally picking up.

[sandman!]

who whats to live in detroit tho ?

[kane]

There are areas in and around Flint MI where they are literally bulldozing entire city blocks of perfectly good homes. they are doing it because nobody lives in them, nobody is buying them and all they do is attract crime and criminals so they actually cost the city money.

Pretty wild. Who would have thought there would come a day when you couldn't give a house away? Of course we don't know how hard these guys have tried to give them away, but it is still pretty wild.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?

Good question. Also whether future land tax is based on value but has a minimum fee even if the value is virtually nil. I imagine there's already speculators buying up properties just for the land.

(Buy a whole block and build a cult compound. )

[rowan]

I wonder if foreigners can own land in Detroit? For $100 it would be worth it just to say you've invested in USA property.

[Jakez]

Originally Posted by fatfoo

Buying a house for $100!

This is an excellent option for a homeless person. Excellent.

A homeless person can collect $100 within days by begging.

lol, homeless person buys shitty house for $100, starts trap/whorehouse, becomes the next Flavor Flave.

[Jon Oso]

Is that for real? I wouldn't mind owning a property in Michigan... where can I find a $100 house I can trash and not care about?

[rowan]

The sum value of the fittings from some of those old homes are probably worth a lot more than the purchase price.

The cheapest land I've seen in Australia was a newly developed residential area in a rural town selling serviced blocks for 50c (not much more than a quarter in US currency ) ... but the catch was you had to build within 2 years. It was an attempt to rejuvenate the town, but it also meant that the value of existing properties plummetted, since you could build a better quality home for less than buying an existing one.

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

Many do. Many are also in extremely bad areas. I was reading about how common arson is over there.

Be sure to check out the rental section at detroit.craigslist.org. Notice how so many are trying to rent out homes for $600 - $1000 a month. If it were such a good deal why wouldn't people buy instead? There's got to be a reason and if there weren't these landlords wouldn't even be bothering to try to rent their places out for so much as they'd know they would never be able to do it with decent homes selling for $1 - $500.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Jon Oso

Is that for real? I wouldn't mind owning a property in Michigan... where can I find a $100 house I can trash and not care about?

I did a search for "real estate detroit" and came up with a few listings... like Yahoo, list between $0 - $1000

http://realestate.yahoo.com/search/M...&search=Search

There's one for $200 on the first page

[rowan]

http://realestate.yahoo.com/Michigan...b.bHQa0Jxn47Qs

15039 Maddelein St Detroit, MI 48205

$50

Bed(s):
3
Bath(s):
1
Type:
Other
Sq/Ft:
-
MLS Number:
30763564
Age (years):
95
Date listed on Yahoo!:
February 19, 2010(15 days ago)


edit: on closer inspection that's some sort of bid listing, it may not necessarily sell for $50

[Jon Oso]

Hmmm....

http://www.realtystore.com/sales/det...rtyid=27293152

[Mutt]

the sad thing about those Detroit homes is that they are very nice solid homes built in the 30's, 40's and 50's. we're not talking the crap today's new middle class houses are made of, solid wood floors, stairs, doors, wainscotting, quality stone/brick construction. those homes in most big cities in the US would be expensive. Just nobody wants to live in a city that is almost totally vacated except for criminals and poor black folk. for people who've never been in downtown Detroit - it's a surreal experience, it has a post apocalyptic nuclear attack feel.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Jon Oso

Hmmm....

http://www.realtystore.com/sales/det...rtyid=27293152

Did you register to find the price? Remember that it's probably only the bad areas are selling for hundreds.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Mutt

the sad thing about those Detroit homes is that they are very nice solid homes built in the 30's, 40's and 50's. we're not talking the crap today's new middle class houses are made of, solid wood floors, stairs, doors, wainscotting, quality stone/brick construction. those homes in most big cities in the US would be expensive. Just nobody wants to live in a city that is almost totally vacated except for criminals and poor black folk. for people who've never been in downtown Detroit - it's a surreal experience, it has a post apocalyptic nuclear attack feel.

I bet with a bit of effort some of the weatherboard houses could be moved to a different area and restored.

Picked a random listed house on Street View - http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&s...2,190, ,0,4.2

The neighbourhood may be a bad one but some of the houses look to be in pretty good nick, and probably have historical value too. Then again maybe these places look good because they're actually occupied.

[kane]

Originally Posted by rowan

The sum value of the fittings from some of those old homes are probably worth a lot more than the purchase price.

The cheapest land I've seen in Australia was a newly developed residential area in a rural town selling serviced blocks for 50c (not much more than a quarter in US currency ) ... but the catch was you had to build within 2 years. It was an attempt to rejuvenate the town, but it also meant that the value of existing properties plummetted, since you could build a better quality home for less than buying an existing one.

yeah. I bet you could strip the house down and sell any metal, fixtures and even some of the wood for a nice sum.

[beemk]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

bingo. taxes in detroit are also VERY high. you can easily pay 300 a month in just taxes for a house in detroit.

[Luscious Media]

[Brujah]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

They have pretty large property taxes owed each year. Check some of those out.

[Spunky]

A shame it turned to that,where a place nobody wants to live in and they basically have to give away homes

[papill0n]

Originally Posted by fatfoo

Buying a house for $100!

This is an excellent option for a homeless person. Excellent.

A homeless person can collect $100 within days by begging.

doubtful in an area where houses are that price

[96ukssob]

you can easily buy houses in Detroit for $500 or less. The problem is they are in really bad shape and after you buy it, you will be "forced" by the city to fix it up or receive fines. Plus, don't forget about property tax.

This is what I heard from someone that lives not to far away in Michigan...

Detroit is playing a dirty trick to sneak in some extra money. they know the poor will just leave their houses, and leave them in bad shape to where they are not livable. But there are some laws that if you buy a house, it has to be in "safe" and "living" conditions. the poor people dont give a shit and will let the local govt try to come after them for the fines. While others in other parts of the country thinks its a good deal, they will quickly rack up hundreds to thousands of dollars in fines and unpaid property tax.

Like I said, I'm not sure if its true, but sure sounds like it

[TidalWave]

Why would you buy it if you didn't plan to fix it up though??? So I don't see that as a problem.

Considering how cheap they are, someone or a group of people should buy a whole block or 2 blocks of houses and build a nice new gated community.

[JD]

who would want to actually LIVE in detroit though?

[Agent 488]

[will76]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

back taxes, other liens by the county, the fact that it would cost them more to fix up than they are worth. If you are buying for the "land value" which isn't much I am sure, you have to pay to bull doze the house and haul away all of the debris. By the time you spend money doing that you spent more than the land is worth.

Nothing is given away for free (or $100) when it comes to real-estate. I am sure these are areas that no one wants to live in as well.

[will76]

Originally Posted by rowan

I wonder if foreigners can own land in Detroit? For $100 it would be worth it just to say you've invested in USA property.

If it was a good deal you wouldn't be hearing about it on GFY. The good deals go early, in most cases before they even make it to the public, muchless posted on GFY.

You wouldn't just be paying $100. You would have closing costs and other costs associated with the house. You would very likely have back taxes and other liens you would need to clear, could be thousands of dollars. Then you would have to pay a lot of money to either fix up or board up the house. It would be very likely no one would want to rent it from you. You would continue to pay property tax every year. All to own a hunk of shit with no value. It's not worth it.

You mentioned in another post to take the house a part and sell fixtures etc... It's not worth the time and there is nothing of value in the houses. Even if you tried to salvage anything of value in them you would be spending a lot of time to do it and you still would have to pay all of the back fees and future taxes on it. A lot of these houses have long ago been striped of anything of value. If it sounds too good to be true it is.

Originally Posted by Mutt

the sad thing about those Detroit homes is that they are very nice solid homes built in the 30's, 40's and 50's. we're not talking the crap today's new middle class houses are made of, solid wood floors, stairs, doors, wainscotting, quality stone/brick construction. those homes in most big cities in the US would be expensive. Just nobody wants to live in a city that is almost totally vacated except for criminals and poor black folk. for people who've never been in downtown Detroit - it's a surreal experience, it has a post apocalyptic nuclear attack feel.

Kind of like some of the areas around here (in new orleans) after Katrina that never came back. Whole neighborhoods with less than 5% of the population that was there before.

[rml1608]

#1) Back Taxes are the biggest deal
#2) Cash Closing Cost Bare Minimum $500 or so .. title inspection etc
#3) You people talking about $300/month taxes never owned a hosue before I am betting. If you can show that the actual value is less then the current assesed value (which is obviously the case here) the city has to re-asses and it will reduce your property taxes.

There is a business opportunity here, I have a couple small ideas .... But I don't have the capital at the moment. And HELL NO I won't tell you what they are lol - Figure it out yourself

[beemk]

Originally Posted by bossku69

you can easily buy houses in Detroit for $500 or less. The problem is they are in really bad shape and after you buy it, you will be "forced" by the city to fix it up or receive fines. Plus, don't forget about property tax.

This is what I heard from someone that lives not to far away in Michigan...

Detroit is playing a dirty trick to sneak in some extra money. they know the poor will just leave their houses, and leave them in bad shape to where they are not livable. But there are some laws that if you buy a house, it has to be in "safe" and "living" conditions. the poor people dont give a shit and will let the local govt try to come after them for the fines. While others in other parts of the country thinks its a good deal, they will quickly rack up hundreds to thousands of dollars in fines and unpaid property tax.

Like I said, I'm not sure if its true, but sure sounds like it

oh yeah i forgot about that, its called certificate of occupancy. they basically make you get an inspection before the home is closed on and in order to close on it you have to sign a paper saying you will make all the necessary repairs before you move into it.

[ilnjscb]

Originally Posted by xmas13

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...oreclosures-80

Detroit has horrible crime and a horrible standard of living. If you are paying such low taxes, where are they getting the money for police, schools, etc.? Answer - they are not. So if you want to move into Mad Max with small difference in skin color, go ahead. You'd be better off buying 100 of them for the 30 acres, walling it and planting organic vegetables.

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Do these properties have large back taxes that you assume when you buy it?
WG

Many do, but after negotiating a lot of places are going for the sale price and new taxes only because they want to get people in paying taxes. They've given up on a lot of the back-taxes.

[Pandoras]

A house for $100

[crockett]

Pretty much this same post came up a year ago.. Detroit is the Haiti of the US.. It should just all be bulldozed, no one wants to live there and the entire govt is corrupt as fuck.

[seeandsee]

so Detroit is going to shut down?