Detroit spends $9 million on 30 homes.

[Kevgoblue]

I don't know the national median income nor the goal of this project [[I think national median income is somewhere around 50k, but that's neither here nor there).

I'm just saying that federal HUD funds come with specific income guidelines. It isn't really relevant what the goal is; if you're taking these funds you also take the accompanying mandates.

I wasn't talking about cost of aquisition, rather cost to maintain. These [[B-E) are huge homes in a historic neighborhood. I believe there is definate value to not letting the neighborhood collapse. But the cost of upkeep for a 100 year old home is not minimal. Just the heat / AC costs alone would be huge. While many of the normal maintenance costs will most likely be delayed due to the renovation, upkeep is still necessary. Kids break a window throwing a baseball? Can't run to Home Depot and put in a Pella fiberglass replacement in a historic district. Bathtub overflows? Can't slap a chunk of drywall on the ceiling to repair the water damage. It's lath with 3 or 4 coats of plaster.

These homes were not built to be average working class housing. And trying to put people of limited means in them will most likely ensure that they don't receive the maintenance required.

[Bham1982]

These homes were not built to be average working class housing. And trying to put people of limited means in them will most likely ensure that they don't receive the maintenance required.

I agree with this. It is a conundrum.

If the limit is 77k for a family of four, I cannot see how I could maintain such a house on that income level. Even at twice that income level, I would be very worried given the huge costs in these big old homes. They could have 4-figure heating bills.

[Zacha341]

I agree. The heating bills in the winter even for a flat or apartment can be high. Double, triple that for those older big foot houses.

...Even at twice that income level, I would be very worried given the huge costs in these big old homes. They could have 4-figure heating bills.

[Honky Tonk]

I wasn't talking about cost of aquisition, rather cost to maintain. These [[B-E) are huge homes in a historic neighborhood. I believe there is definate value to not letting the neighborhood collapse. But the cost of upkeep for a 100 year old home is not minimal. Just the heat / AC costs alone would be huge. While many of the normal maintenance costs will most likely be delayed due to the renovation, upkeep is still necessary. Kids break a window throwing a baseball? Can't run to Home Depot and put in a Pella fiberglass replacement in a historic district. Bathtub overflows? Can't slap a chunk of drywall on the ceiling to repair the water damage. It's lath with 3 or 4 coats of plaster.

These homes were not built to be average working class housing. And trying to put people of limited means in them will most likely ensure that they don't receive the maintenance required.

In a nutshell, you pointed out exactly what went wrong in Detroit in the first place. Homes were being sold, [[not historic, though), @ auction for a pittance of what they were worth. The idea was to sell homes cheap, populate the neighborhoods, encourage growth, etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. What resulted were people of little means buying these up, running them into the ground, then buying another for $1000. The people that were left in these neighborhoods started to move out, as neighborhood homes became run down and the crime increased. I hope they have better luck with Plan B.