Detroit house auction flops for urban wasteland

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

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.

The tax foreclosure auction by Wayne County authorities also stood as one of the most ambitious one-stop attempts to sell off urban property since the real-estate market collapse.

Despite a minimum bid of $500, less than a fifth of the Detroit land was sold after four days.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/gc03/idUSTRE59O17F20091026

[TwilightGardener]

1. Just amazing. And sad.

[LeftHander]

2. At least we have cheap t-shirts from China...

:sarcasm:

[Honeycombe8]

4. And too bad I have an auto that gets more than 15 mpg (because I didn't buy GM).

Too bad GM decided to put all its eggs in the gas guzzler basket and ignore the mass market who were forced to buy Hondas or Toyotas or Subarus in order to get autos with cargo areas that also got decent gas mileage, had stellar reliability ratings, and always were in the top 5 in safety crash tests.

I looked at GM 13 years ago (and Ford), wanting to buy "American" (nothing is all American are all foreign anymore). But it wasn't a matter of the price being too high, or not having the right color or whatever. They simply did not produce what I was looking for. They simply didn't bother producing vehicles as I've described. They more or less said, "Hey...you wanna car with good gas mileage and great reliability? Go ahead on to the Honda or Toyota lots. We don't want you here. We sell only to fools who settle for cars that break down every few years, and get no more than 15 mpg - on a good day - since we're in cahoots with the oil companies. Go ahead on down the street. We don't want your business." So I did. I bought a Subaru.

And here I am 13 years later, with my old Subaru still chugging away, running like a top, getting 20 mpg in the city (not great, but pretty good for 13 years ago). My Subaru has never broken down, BTW. Not once. I merely did what GM told me to do: Get lost and buy elsewhere.

[WriteDown]

5. Ah there you are....

What's it like in 1996? :eyes:

Oh, and Subaru's are notorious for the tranny's going out at about 60K. Glad you've been lucky though.

[Honeycombe8]

6. I bought in 1997. The stats do not support your tranny claim. They DO support such

a claim for GMs and Fords, though. Certain models.

I did a lot of research and thoroughly researched reliability ratings, etc. I bought the Forester the first year it came out (the 1998 model came out in 1997), so I didn't have stats for that.

I spent a lot of time researching GM and Ford autos, and viewing their vehicles. They just didn't think I was worth it to produce a car that met my needs. I bought the Forester because there simply was nothing else on the market like it at the time. The CR-V came close, as did the Toyota RAV. But the Subaru was more car than SUV. No rollover risk, etc. And best of all, it got 20 mpg in the city.

I liked the Ford Explorer Sport, but it got less than 15 mpg in the city and had a way too big engine (for hauling and such; it wasn't a city utility vehicle; it really was a truck-like vehicle). That's the closest I found in American cars to what I wanted. But it wasn't quite what I wanted.

NOW? Most of the auto makers cater to the city utility vehicle crowd, like me. GM and Ford either did it intentionally (giving away business to the foreign makers), or its researchers missed spotting the current needs of the mass market. Either way, it's THEIR fault they missed that market. It would've saved them.

[WriteDown]

7. But the car autoforums do support the claim...

http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic252603.htm

Subaru uses the Toyota trick of not acknowledging the problem unless its behind closed doors. The fact that you are unaware of a common problem is a little disconcerting though.

Once again, you are talking about 13 years ago which is a lifetime in the automotive industry.

[WonderGrunion]

12. My 10 year old Saturn gets over 30 MPG. It's from GM.

You can blame the makers all you want, but consumers helped kill the companies making efficient models.

[WriteDown]

3. Spin...

Detroit is a thriving. Just ask those who said that the US auto industry needed to die out.

[AngryAmish]

8. If only there was some way to automate the crimefighting in Detroit...

[WriteDown]

9. I'd buy that for a dollar. nt

[mstinamotorcity]

10. The Motor City

Well I've read some of the posting on everyone's view on Detroit. It is true the automakers got in bed with big oil and started making suvs. Because they were on their way to making more fuel efficient cars like the infamous k car. But the demand for U.S. consumption of oil started declining . That was the end of that and the introduction of the line What is middle class? Mr. Reagan was now in office and Death to the Unions. They showed automakers how to better their bottom line by outsourcing the labor to other countries and scaling the work down to smaller companies with little overhead. Oh we are sorry that a lot of American people are out of work.But I guess it did not occur to the automakers that when they sent the work overseas for two dollars a day that when their product got back to the U.S. that there would not be anyone to purchase their goods.Because with no job means no money. As far as cheap property goes there is quite a bit in the city. We are trying to deal with the crime rate. But like any hard hit industrial area we are going to make a comeback we may hit a few bumps along the way but we will be at the party on time. So keep us in your faith based signals (prayers,meditation,etc.).

[FarCenter]

11. The problem with these properties is that they are in Detroit

Therefore, they are subject to governance and taxation by Detroit and Wayne County.

So they are worth less than $0.00.

[ieoeja]

13. The problem with these properties is that they have bank liens.

If the previous owner defaulted on a $300k mortgage, the $500 you pay for the property still leaves you owing $300k to the mortgage company.

[WriteDown]

15. Uh, no they don't....

Once its been through the foreclosure process, the liens are no longer applicable.

[happyslug]

16. This is a tax sale NOT a foreclosure sale, so the liens survive

Anyway that is the law in most states, any liens on the property survive a tax sale. Now some states (My home state of Pennsylvania is one) has a special form of tax sale called an "Upset sale" which does sell the land free of any other claim, but all people with claims must be informed AND either agree (especially other government units with tax liens on the property) OR do not Object (Mostly do to the fact they have written off the lien themselves as noncollectable).

Just a note this is NOT a Foreclosure sale, where any subsequent lien to the mortgage being foreclosed on is wiped out, this is a tax sale, which in most states do NOT wiped clean any other lien on the property.

[WriteDown]

19. Tax sales supercede all liens and wipe out the rest at sale...

This is why mortgage servicers will pay tax liens well before they ever go to sale.

http://www.rateempire.com/realestate_investment/taxliens.html

[happyslug]

20. Depends on your state laws, in my state they do NOT, at a tax sale you buy it subject to any liens

n/t

[WriteDown]

21. Link to that information? nt

[happyslug]

23. Pennsylvania tax sales are Governed by Statute

The Statute is referred to as "Real Estate Tax Sale Law" 72 P.S. § 5860.101 et seq. When it comes to selling property at a tax sale, any such sale is subject to any provision of the "Real Estate Tax Sale Law" including the following:

72 P.S. § 5860.609 - Non divestiture of liens

Every such sale shall convey title to the property under and subject to the lien of every recorded obligation, claim, lien, estate, mortgage, ground rent and Commonwealth tax lien not included in the upset price with which said property may have or shall become charged or for which it may become liable.

Notice, if the lien is NOT included in the "upset price" its full value against the property survives. Thus In Pennsylvania you end up with two different types of tax sales. The first tax sale (and what most people in Pennsylvania refer to as a "Tax Sale") any property goes through is for the taxes due WITHOUT any reference to any other liens. In effect any bidder is buying the property subject to any other lien, including any mortgage.

The practice in my home county, and in most other counties is to subject the property to a tax sale WITHOUT any notice of any other liens. The bidders themselves have to do a title search to find those other liens (or if no such liens exist). The property is then taken off the tax sale books until someone shows up with some interest in the property. At that point an "Upset price" for the property is set and subject to an "Upset Sale". Often this is done in a private sale format but after first going through the formality of a "Upset Sale". The reason for this is we have so many old coal mines, long abandoned, with no one paying taxes on those mines for decades (and no one wanting them either). Thus the practice in my county is for someone to approach the Tax Claim Bureau about buying a piece of property. The Tax Claim Bureau then goes through the motions of an "Upset Sale" bid (i.e. does what is required of it under the above Statute for such a sale), when no bids are made, then whatever the person who approached the Tax Bureau get the property at a private sale. We use to have "Upset Sales" in this county, but so few people wanted the property up for sale the practice has long fallen out of use. Now other counties regularly hold "Upset Sales" and if the property is not sold then list them for private sale (If someone wants the property all he or she has to do is approach the county and come to an agreement as to price since the "Upset Sale" had already taken place.

Just a comment on the above statute and why it is written the way it is. It is to cover the more rural counties in this state, the big Urban counties (Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties) come under different rules.

[WriteDown]

24. Still no link.

But it does sound interesting to say the least. If true, this is unbelievably rare.

[happyslug]

25. Pennsylvania was the last state to entered its statute on the net

The main reason is that the state law has NEVER been 100% codified. In fact the Act I cite was just that, an act passed by the State legislature and listed in its set of session laws. Now a private publisher has made an "unofficial" codification of Pennsylvania law, but it is a product of a private company, and while often cited was NEVER part of the Pennsylvania Codification of its statutes. The State has been trying to Codified its laws since the 1960s, but has done so for only about 1/2 of the laws on the Books. Codified Sections are identified by being called" "Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes" or "Pa.C.S." for Short. The private codification is called "Purdon's Statutes" or "P.S." for short (Purdon being the name of the company that first did its own codification, it is now owned by West Publishing Company).

Now, some people have put part of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and other Pennsylvania laws on line, but the easiest way to obtain a copy is through West Law or Lexis (Both pay to use cites that I hesitant to cite). If you have access to either, all you need is the P.S. Citation. Other places you can look for copies of Pennsylvania law.

If you want to go to the State's "Statute on line" (Which is nothing but a very restricted access to West Law itself) go to:
http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?SP=pac-1000

Then go to 72 P.S. NOT 72 Pa C.S.(Both are listed, the local tax Code I am citing has NOT been codified so it is still only a P.S. citation, other parts of state tax law has been codified and thus have a 72 Pa.C.S. citation). Then go into "Chapter Four Local Taxation" then to "DELINQUENT TAXES IN COUNTIES, CITIES OF THIRD CLASS, BOROUGHS, ETC" then to "Article VI. Sale of Property", then to "Upset Sales" then "§ 5860.609 - Non divestiture of liens".

Yes, it is a long way for a Citation, but that is how it is in my home state. Yes, it is a poor way for the State to provide copies of its Laws on line, but that is what our Statue Legislature has done, rather then do what most other states have done and do it themselves.

Now, do NOT confuse Pennsylvania Statutes with Pennsylvania Regulations (Listed in the Pennsylvania Code of Regulation often cited as "Pa Code"). While, Pennsylvania probably has the worse statutes (both on line AND in the form of Codification) Pennsylvania has had the best set of Regulations (and how to find those regulations) since the 1920s in the form of the "Pennsylvania Code" (Pacode.com on line cite). The Pennsylvania Code is one of the great achievements of Governor Gifford Pinchot (Governor of Pennsylvania for two NON-consecutive terms in the 1920s and 1930s). For a Republican a very good Governor (Pinchot also was an early environmentalist, having been Theodore Roosevelt's' Head of the Forest Service, later purchased huge areas of Pennsylvania for Conversion into Allegheny National Forest OR the even greater acreage in the State Forest System). During the Depression Pinchot spent any New Deal Money he could get to kick start the State (Pinchot Roads are still the name many people in this state calls the roads he had paved in the 1930s). I would like to call the Pennsylvania Code his greatest achievement, and for most people it would be, but Pinchot did so much more it is hard to believe Pinchot was a Republican (Through Pinchot showed his GOP roots by trying to enforce Prohibition and when Prohibition was repealed by setting up the state store system so that liquor would be sold by Civil Servants NOT at will employees).

[tmyers09]

14. Hmm...how about we forget about selling it,

and just let the people who were forced out back into their homes?

[lib2DaBone]

17. The Bankster/Gangsters with the Government Bureaucrats.....

..working hand-in-hand (BOHICA) Bend over.. here it comes again...

[SoCalDem]

18. The obvious solution is at hand

Farming Detroit
http://www.good.is/post/the-good-100-farming-detroit/
Posted in: Magazine on October 12, 2009


The GOOD 100: Farming Detroit

The Motor City’s Newest Plants

Detroit, as you may have heard, has some problems. It was hit by the economic collapse, but it was in trouble already with rapid depopulation, perennial violence, and joblessness through the roof. Despite all that—or perhaps because of it—Detroit is becoming a haven for urban farming: an example to which other cities can look.

“We are really very collaborative and community-based. We all work together,” says Ashley Atkinson, the director of urban agriculture…

snip..




and



Growth in America’s “Dying Cities”
http://www.good.is/post/growth-in-americas-%e2%80%9cdying-cities%e2%80%9d/

“Feral houses” and other indigenous species of the rust belt

I live in the rust belt and have always found beauty in urban decay. So it will not surprise you that I am transfixed by Detroit photographer James Griffioen’s shots of “feral houses”. Nature is up to bat in Detroit as it is in my home, Cleveland.

For those of us trying to figure out how to understand these places in which we live, metaphors are important.



and


http://www.good.is/post/the-case-for-bulldozing-american-cities/

The Case for Bulldozing American Cities

Do some American cities need to get smaller? Inhabitat covers an idea to return large parts of our fastest-shrinking cities to nature.

“The Obama administration is reportedly considering plans to raze sections of 50 economically depressed US cities, condensing these towns’ shrinking populations and city services to smaller areas. The plan, dubbed ‘shrink to survive,’ may seem kooky, but it could be big news for environmentalists: In many cases, bulldozed districts would be returned to nature via…



and



Posted in: Blog on May 22, 2009


Turning Detroit Into Urban Farms: The Best Solution for Everyone?

http://www.good.is/post/turning-detroit-into-urban-farms-the-best-solution-for-everyone/
Interesting news coming from Detroit: Two official plans are being proposed to City Council to turn swaths of the city—we’re talking acres upon acres—into the world’s largest urban farms. Seems like a smart idea, but one that, to me, waves a red flag as well.

One proposal would bring a commercial farm to the city center, and be among the most ambitious urban farms we’ve ever heard of. The other would function similarly, but would train…

[AngryAmish]

22. Local solutions for local problems

One of the favorite traditions in Detroit this time of year is Devil's Night. This is where the populace comes together to burn each other's houses down.

It is obvious that there is too much housing in Detroit - or else they would not be selling for $500 or less. So why not use a local tradition? A vigorous Devil's Night will reduce the housing stock making the remaining homes more valuable. Call it urban renewal - Detroit style.