Well, I wonder what property taxes are.
It blows me away, this idea that an "average" house is $5,000, down from $66,000 a few years ago, or whatever the number was, that was quoted.
I can't imagine a house for $5,000.
But then and again, I don't know Detroit.
The property taxes in Detroit are astonishingly high, as is home owners insurance. I can easily see a monthly mortgage payment which includes property taxes, insurance, escrow fees, and potentially PMI being that high for a house of that value in Detroit for someone with poor credit. Ludicrous, absolutely. Asinine to agree to such terms, certainly.
The property tax situation in Detroit is staggering. A significant portion of the city is abandoned, with all records lost of who owns the property. The wealthiest area of the city, the central business district has been given staggering exemptions in order to maintain businesses and semi-luxury condos and lofts for the elite. In the neighborhoods, a large percentage of the populace refuses to pay property taxes or pays off the city cashiers office to state that they were paid. Which leaves deplorably high taxes for the few whom are honest enough to pay.
Detroit's leadership has refused to modernize or digitalize their property tax collection, so that it can be properly managed. This likely stems from the fact that numerous members in city government have been discovered to not be paying any property taxes at all for years at a time. It's rather common knowledge that a few bribes here or there can make property tax bills disappear. Others know that if you just don't pay them, the chances of the city discovering that in their filing system are next to nil.
The Wayne county commissioner, which manages the area outside of Detroit has offered to take over the collection of property taxes for the city. The city has declined.
Quite honestly, you actually will see homes "advertised" for less than a grand within Detroit. With a budget of $5,000 you'd be amazed at the selection of homes within the city. Some are actually breathtakingly beautiful French Tudors, English Manors, or even modern town homes which have never had occupants!
A steady stream of investors have been piling in from around the world, literally, ever since the low home prices started making the world news. There are countless stories of them buying sight unseen, and becoming shocked with what owning property in the city really means.
Generally your only real chances of making a hefty return is to sell it to a foolish foreign investor, insurance job, or convert it into a Federally subsidized rental unit. Which of course is a horribly dishonest scam in it's self.
When the average home was selling for the reported $66,000... those were often scams too.
