Detroit debuts the new house auction site.

**brizee** · April-14-14, 02:10 PM

http://www.freep.com/article/2014041...homes-for-sale

It seems to be focusing on East English Village.

http://buildingdetroit.org/

From last weeks announcement I assume the Marygrove area [[whre I currently lay my head) will be next.

I may take in some of the open houses.

It's just I'm too nervous to lay down roots here.

Detroit looks like their leadership has righted themselves, but Michigan is just as batshit as ever and I absolutely not willing to go where they've been trying to lead lately. Especially with a house as anchor.

**corktownyuppie** · April-14-14, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by brizee

http://www.freep.com/article/2014041...homes-for-sale

It seems to be focusing on East English Village.

http://buildingdetroit.org/

From last weeks announcement I assume the Marygrove area [[whre I currently lay my head) will be next.

I may take in some of the open houses.

It's just I'm too nervous to lay down roots here.

Detroit looks like their leadership has righted themselves, but Michigan is just as batshit as ever and I absolutely not willing to go where they've been trying to lead lately. Especially with a house as anchor.

I understand the hesitancy to lay down roots. I wrestled with the same thing before I bought in Corktown. One thing that has me interested are these bid prices. I mean, if it's too risky to lay down roots...it's nice to know you're only looking at $10k for the house + $30k for the rehab.

It's not chump change, but wow, there are deals to be had.

Zug Island Community Garden · April-14-14, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

It's not chump change, but wow, there are deals to be had.

...until the ludicrous property tax bills start coming. At some point you won't be able to simply not pay with impunity the way the majority of people do now.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · April-14-14, 03:04 PM

Sounds like another solid idea from the new mayor.

I like the approach of targeting different neighborhoods on a rotating basis, rather than a scatter-shot approach of a few houses all over. And concentrating on areas that have a realistic possibility of being stabilized and turned around. Restricting this to owner-occupants, offering forgivable loans, and marketing a number of properties in a small area at once could make these deals quite attractive. I hope it succeeds.

Mayor Duggan is doing a lot more than paying lip-service to helping neighborhoods.

**corktownyuppie** · April-14-14, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Zug Island Community Garden

...until the ludicrous property tax bills start coming. At some point you won't be able to simply not pay with impunity the way the majority of people do now.

Yeah, but it doesn't bother me as much to pay 50% more in property taxes when I'm buying the house for 90% less.

**DetroitPlanner** · April-14-14, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by brizee

http://www.freep.com/article/2014041...homes-for-sale

It seems to be focusing on East English Village.

http://buildingdetroit.org/

Interesting. I was expecting it to focus on Marygrove.

**poobert** · April-14-14, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Zug Island Community Garden

...until the ludicrous property tax bills start coming. At some point you won't be able to simply not pay with impunity the way the majority of people do now.

I live in EEV and my total property taxes are $2100 per year with the NEZ abatement. Not bargain basement but totally managable. Don't be so hysterical.

The totally rehabed EEV Land Bank houses sold for 50k - 90k. These are the remainder that the Lank Bank didn't have the funding to renovate, so the EEV Association worked this out. The squeaky wheel gets the grease in this town.

Check it out. The neighborhood isn't perfect but it's really pretty nice. To buy a nice old house here for 40k total, and have reasonable property taxes, great neighbors, and an active neighborhood association, it really is a deal. I plan on moving out of the state soon but I will certainly miss the neighorhood, definitely one of the bright spots in Detroit and Michigan.

**animatedmartian** · April-14-14, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Interesting. I was expecting it to focus on Marygrove.

A Detnews article says that they didn't start in Marygrove because they don't own all the houses yet. They have to go through the 90 day process of seizing the properties from negligent owners.

**mwilbert** · April-14-14, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

Sounds like another solid idea from the new mayor.

I like the approach of targeting different neighborhoods on a rotating basis, rather than a scatter-shot approach of a few houses all over. And concentrating on areas that have a realistic possibility of being stabilized and turned around. Restricting this to owner-occupants, offering forgivable loans, and marketing a number of properties in a small area at once could make these deals quite attractive. I hope it succeeds.

I agree. Targeting particular areas and concentrating resources there is the only way to make progress when you don't have enough for everyone. In this case "enough" isn't just city resources, but people wanting to buy and live in the city. In a limited area, they make a difference--spread all over, not so much.

In my opinion, the city should figure out exactly which areas are going to be the given redevelopment/preservation support of this kind, and not release properties from the land bank unless they are located in those areas. They should try to get Wayne County to do the same.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · April-15-14, 11:11 AM

Model D coverage on this program. It provides good details on safeguards against speculation.

http://www.modeldmedia.com/devnews/N...ve+City%2c+USA

**gvidas** · April-15-14, 03:01 PM

I applaud the attempt to cut out speculators. However, 6 months to a C of O seems like a tight deadline for a first-time homeowner. That doesn't leave you much room to solicit bids from contractors, vet them, and then still deal with the city inspectors.

I would like to see how the actual contract is written, and what provisions there are for unexpected delays, or for people who inadvertently hire deadbeats. Some of those houses need major work.

I think it would be a tragedy if someone invests in buying a house and renovating it, only to have the city take it back from them and flip it to someone else because their good-faith effort just took too long.

Perhaps part of my reservation is that if I were to participate in the program [[I am in the market for a house), I would like my eventual home not to be the product of the cheapest, fastest renovation that will meet the city's occupancy requirements. I want the time to do a thorough renovation, including insulation retrofit, before moving in.

If the timeline varied depended on the property [[houses that just need a new furnace: 2 months; houses that need a new roof, new siding, full electrical/plumbing update: much longer), I would be much more interested in participating.

**Spartan** · April-15-14, 03:10 PM

I'm curious if anyone knows how difficult getting financing for a project like these would be? I am considering purchasing in the city and this is certainly a possibility if the right opportunity presents itself. However, I certainly don't have enough capital to purchase, then make all the fixes right away in 6 months without a loan. Would it be a lot tougher than getting a standard mortgage or a similar process?

**DetroitPlanner** · April-15-14, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan

I'm curious if anyone knows how difficult getting financing for a project like these would be? I am considering purchasing in the city and this is certainly a possibility if the right opportunity presents itself. However, I certainly don't have enough capital to purchase, then make all the fixes right away in 6 months without a loan. Would it be a lot tougher than getting a standard mortgage or a similar process?

In general getting small mortgages is much more difficult than getting larger ones. Not sure why as it is counter-intuative.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · April-15-14, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by gvidas

I applaud the attempt to cut out speculators. However, 6 months to a C of O seems like a tight deadline for a first-time homeowner. That doesn't leave you much room to solicit bids from contractors, vet them, and then still deal with the city inspectors.

I would like to see how the actual contract is written, and what provisions there are for unexpected delays, or for people who inadvertently hire deadbeats. Some of those houses need major work.

I think it would be a tragedy if someone invests in buying a house and renovating it, only to have the city take it back from them and flip it to someone else because their good-faith effort just took too long.

Perhaps part of my reservation is that if I were to participate in the program [[I am in the market for a house), I would like my eventual home not to be the product of the cheapest, fastest renovation that will meet the city's occupancy requirements. I want the time to do a thorough renovation, including insulation retrofit, before moving in.

If the timeline varied depended on the property [[houses that just need a new furnace: 2 months; houses that need a new roof, new siding, full electrical/plumbing update: much longer), I would be much more interested in participating.

I'd certainly agree with your reservations. Few projects ever seem to get done on time. And there does appear to be a difference in the amount of repairs needed in the various houses.

There is some wiggle room in the 6-month requirement though; this is from the "rules" section on the website:

In cases where substantial progress has been made, but the repair work is not complete despite the best efforts of the buyer, the Land Bank, at its sole discretion, may extend the 6 month deadline.

**swingline** · April-15-14, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan

I'm curious if anyone knows how difficult getting financing for a project like these would be? I am considering purchasing in the city and this is certainly a possibility if the right opportunity presents itself. However, I certainly don't have enough capital to purchase, then make all the fixes right away in 6 months without a loan. Would it be a lot tougher than getting a standard mortgage or a similar process?

Houses needing substantial renovation in EEV could probably qualify for a 203K loan which is underwritten based on value of the property once its renovated and is designed to be used to finance the renovations. Lots of paperwork though. There's no way to complete a 203K renovation in 6 months.

As for those $40K houses in EEV, you put $10K down, finance $30K at 6% for 15 years and you're saddled with a whopping $253 monthly loan payment. That's less than the monthly DTE gas bill for residents of Palmer Woods, Boston Edison, Indian Village, etc.

**brizee** · May-05-14, 12:50 PM

3 hours and change and it seems the first house is going for >30K.

**Danny** · May-05-14, 01:01 PM

YAY DUGGAN!

That's a mayor that takes community action. Auction off city owned property to middle class hopefuls. This plan should work.

**Spartan** · May-05-14, 03:07 PM

House is up over $45K now, is it even worth that much after fixing? Good to see it for sure, although not great for my potential future hopes of participating in this program.

**mwilbert** · May-05-14, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan

House is up over $45K now, is it even worth that much after fixing? Good to see it for sure, although not great for my potential future hopes of participating in this program.

Just keep waiting. There are a lot of houses to come, both in EEV and in other parts of the city, and I'm sure some of them will be auctioned at reasonable prices. The first one is probably not the best indicator. However, as you say, it is nice to see the interest in this one.

**Schoolcraft** · May-05-14, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan

House is up over $45K now, is it even worth that much after fixing? Good to see it for sure, although not great for my potential future hopes of participating in this program.

If you are willing to take a look in the Marygrove area next month, the opportunity is there to receive a 25K forgivable loan with your home purchase from Talmer Bank, 5k per year that you stay in the home.