This House is a Real Bargain.
We know it's a buyers' market in Michigan as far as houses go, but in some areas prices are getting ridiculously low.
A house in Detroit just sold for $1.00. That is not a typo. For the record, property taxes on that house next year will be $3900.
The description of the house is not encouraging. It sounds like it was totally stripped out and abandoned. They took everything, including the kitchen sink.
Still for one dollar. I wonder what kind of neighborhood it is. I don't know for sure but there is definite clue in that someone stole the boards that were put over broken windows.
A house in Detroit just sold for $1.00. That is not a typo. For the record, property taxes on that house next year will be $3900.
The description of the house is not encouraging. It sounds like it was totally stripped out and abandoned. They took everything, including the kitchen sink.
Still for one dollar. I wonder what kind of neighborhood it is. I don't know for sure but there is definite clue in that someone stole the boards that were put over broken windows.
posted by shoprat at 1:08 PM
10 Comments:
Well, I hope I can get that much if I sell my house when my current adjustable mortgage matures, LOL!
It's really sad. Like the man being interveiwed said, they need to just tear them down. I don't know what the answer is for Detroit. There is lots of blame on city government for excessive fees, taxes and regulation that make these properties financially untenable. Also, the federal government must stop punitivly taxing Michigan as if we have a thriving economy and giving OUR MONEY to states like Texas. I'd really like to see some of the Neocons here at least ACKNOWLEDGE that low tax states like Texas and Arizona are prospering on the backs of states like Michigan and Ohio who get less federal money back than they send to DC.
tim
I am old enough to remember some of the LBJ years and people were complaining about tax favoritism for Texas at our expense even then. It needs to change but it has been around as long as I can remember. I remember people hoping Jerry Ford would change it but he lacked either the will or opportunity. It is not a neo-con problem.
The boards that cover the windows would cost more than a dollar here in LA!
I wasn't saying that the Neocons created the problem: I'm just tired of the whole "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps like we did" line. They pulled themselves up with OUR MONEY. I just want them to see that they have had favorable largess from the federal government in the past. I think it's our turn now. That's all.
Yes, Shoprat, I would agree that's a pretty good clue. Still, a house can be refurbished and would be worth doing so if it's in a decent neighborhood. You wouldn't believe it if you saw the pictures of the house we now live in before we rennovated it. People thought we were nuts! The 80 acres of land it was on cost us, but the house was thrown in for free. The last time we had it appraised it was appraised for $150,000. Of course our taxes went up. We put in a pool, the taxes went up. We repaired the barn roof and painted it, the taxes went up. The forest on our property is taller and the taxes go up. Will it never stop? Probably not.
How's your Dad doing, Shoprat?
I hope things are looking better...
Interestingly,
there was a time when Michigan was the hub of American manufacturing and the icon of prosperity. If I recall, it was the in 70's when Japanese autos started hammering the US. In the early '80s, Reagan added an import tax to give Michigan auto plants a leg up. But the UAW and friends continued to create a false economy by inflating wages and benefits, and the subsequent trickle-down affect has decimated the region.
The same thing is occurring in the 'Silicon Valley'. The 'DOT-COM'ERS' also created a market that over-inflated everything from real-estate to food and clothing. The labor Unions quickly followed suit with journeymen steamfitters for instance earning a cool $45+ an hour wage and huge benefits in the late '90s.
Now, most of the semi-conductor manufacturing has moved over-seas because they can't support the wage, mortgages are defaulting, and San Jose is going the way of Detroit.
The simple explanation is that people are mostly selfish and greedy; always wanting what they don't have and blaming others for their own plight, rather than enjoying what they've been blessed with.
The end result is a city in ruin.
But hey, look on the bright side: you have the largest Muslim population in the United States, and soon, McDonald's will be serving Halal food and shutting down 5 times a day for prayer.
Gawfer- I disagree with your analysis of the current situation. It really has nothing to do with the auto industry. It all started in 1967 riots. White flight followed, eroding the tax base, and also a dysfunctional school system that now graduates only 25% of its students exaserbated the problem. Right now, I'd say the biggest obstacle to the rebirth of Detroit is the school system. It is turning out a citizenry that is uneducated and blames "white racism" when in fact the problem is an incompetant city government that is corrupt at it's core. New Orleans is a paragon of virtue in comparison. Really, I'd wager that if you excluded Detroit, Flint and Saginaw from the figures, Michigan would probably not be much (if any) higher than the national figure for unemployment. You can blame the UAW if you also blame the CEO's who have been really bad management decisions while giving themselves multi million dollar bonuses. We will never be competitive labor wise with countries that pay factory workers $100 a month. It's not the money as much as it is the inflexibility of work rules and the threat of a strike that's killing the UAW. Volkswagen just opened a new plant in TN and is paying workers roughly the same wage. they were just affraid to locate in MI because of a UAW strike at American Axle.
tim & gawfer
You both have valid points and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The folly of the UAW did help create this problem as did the mafia-like political machine that runs Detroit. Both problems are real both need to be solved before Detroit can be fixed.
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