Sheesh! They can't even give houses away.

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DETROIT [[Reuters) - In a crowded ballroom next to a bankrupt casino, what remains of the Detroit property market was being picked over by speculators and mostly discarded.

After five hours of calling out a drumbeat of "no bid" for properties listed in an auction book as thick as a city phone directory, the energy of the county auctioneer began to flag.

"OK," he said. "We only have 300 more pages to go."

There was tired laughter from investors ready to roll the dice on a city that has become a symbol of the collapse of the U.S. auto industry, pressures on the industrial middle-class and intractable problems for the urban poor.

On the auction block in Detroit: almost 9,000 homes and lots in various states of abandonment and decay from the tidy owner-occupied to the burned-out shell claimed by squatters.

Taken together, the properties seized by tax collectors for arrears and put up for sale last week represented an area the size of New York's Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston, according to a Detroit Free Press estimate.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/domes...59O17F20091025

Here's a map [[within a blog) illustrating Detroit's land use situation, comparing it in size to other cities.

On a positive note, here's a reprint of a story about the opportunities this situation presents.

Remember, challenges are just opportunities in disguise. We may not have as many people, but we have enough rich [[former) farmland to feed people. Shucks, Mayor Pingree knew that 115 years ago! ;)

Finally, let's not lay the blame entirely at the feet of Detroit. That Canadian [[I refuse to speak or type the name) has a lot to do with making Detroit's problems that much [[much, much) worse. :mad:

Maybe the city should realize their taxes are really outrageous. It is a horrible bargain no mater how you slice it. Anyone who has eyes can see all the nearby vibrant communities are doing something right. All the livable homes that sold at this auction most likely had people in them who may have held on but who now are homeless. Soon the taxes may force out many more especially as the economy deteriorates.

The coming crisis in the next 12-18 months will wipe out many more. Then the county will have more properties to confiscate.

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Originally Posted by GRALR

Maybe the city should realize their taxes are really outrageous. It is a horrible bargain no mater how you slice it. Anyone who has eyes can see all the nearby vibrant communities are doing something right. All the livable homes that sold at this auction most likely had people in them who may have held on but who now are homeless. Soon the taxes may force out many more especially as the economy deteriorates.

The coming crisis in the next 12-18 months will wipe out many more. Then the county will have more properties to confiscate.

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Granted property taxes are too high but people who lose their homes to taxes usually can't afford even lower taxes.

I had started a link about this auction the day before it started and the response was no one was going to bother to show up.

A year or two ago, I posted that real estate taxes should be based market value- price paid and a few here attacked the idea. This is what happens with the present system- 80% of the properties did not receive a single bid- because they would have to pay outrageous taxes.

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Originally Posted by Ocean2026

I had started a link about this auction the day before it started and the response was no one was going to bother to show up.

A year or two ago, I posted that real estate taxes should be based market value- price paid and a few here attacked the idea. This is what happens with the present system- 80% of the properties did not receive a single bid- because they would have to pay outrageous taxes.

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I have never owned property in Detroit but isn't there a system in place where a homeowner can contest the amount of his property taxes and meet with an arbitrator to prove his declining property values or if his property is not realistically assessed?

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Originally Posted by jbd441

I have never owned property in Detroit but isn't there a system in place where a homeowner can contest the amount of his property taxes and meet with an arbitrator to prove his declining property values or if his property is not realistically assessed?

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So naive. Have you ever owned a property anywhere and tried to appeal the taxes? When you go to these hearings they give you about 2 minutes to explain why you think your property is worth less. Then in a few week you get another assessment in the mail with a minor reduction. Somewhere on it in small print it says that you can further appeal to the state if you still feel that your property is assessed too high.

I have been waiting to hear back from the state since April.

In Texas you are asked to report the sales/purchase price of a new property. One doesn' t have to however and no one cares. If you do however that becomes the new tax value or they adjust it so that the new tax value is say 90% of what you paid.

That system works and people can buy land and bldgs in Texas with confidence that they will get a fair deal from their county appraisal district. Many times a short chat on the phone will result in a reduction. Texas has a people-friendly attitude that I really enjoy [[ unless we are talking about Bush bombing Iraqi civilians). This attitude[[ not Bush's) is one factor in Texas having a vibrant economy for investment. Detroit still has way more interesting buildings though.

Detroit's taxes are too high because the city is set up to house twice as many people as there are, and there isn't much tax base per person, not because of the system of assessment.

Also, there are too many housing units in Detroit and in SE Michigan. There is nothing confusing about this. There are fewer jobs, there are fewer people, there are fewer occupied houses. There aren't going to be any takers for the less-desirable houses. Even a speculator needs someone to sell to.

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Originally Posted by 2blocksaway

So naive. Have you ever owned a property anywhere and tried to appeal the taxes? When you go to these hearings they give you about 2 minutes to explain why you think your property is worth less. Then in a few week you get another assessment in the mail with a minor reduction. Somewhere on it in small print it says that you can further appeal to the state if you still feel that your property is assessed too high.

I have been waiting to hear back from the state since April.

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It was WORSE in this state before Proposition A was adopted. For example:
We purchased a home in 1989. It was reduced in price twice before we bought it, and we paid less than the last asking price. In 1990, we received our assessment notification, using the original asking price as the basis of taxes due.

We appealed using comps listings and the sales documents to back our case. One of the appeals board members told me that in their opinion the house was worth the original listing price. My countering to that was that the house was vacant for six months in s sellers market [[at that time) and a true price is whatever a willing seller would take, and a willing buyer to give for a property.

The board agreed with my case, and granted a reduction based on my purchase price. A short lived victory, as the next assessment for 1991 jumped my assessment by 30%.

At least Prop A stops that happy B.S. by tying the increase to the inflation rate unless there is a major improvement to the residence like adding a room, or to the sale of the property..

Regardless of the arguments for more school funding, the tax structure in general, improving education et al, you have to admit that it is unfair to tax someone's primary residence at the same rate that, say a management company or on a smaller scale a landlord with ten or twenty properties turning a profit are. At a mimimum, there are a lot of people today that are living on the edge, that a increase in taxes would be disasterous. Not to mention senior citizens on a fixed income.