Last month I purchased this HUD foreclosed home in Detroit, Mi. I paid $900.00 for the house and another $2500 for property taxes.
It has been completely stripped of all pipes, the water heater, radiators, sinks toilets, pretty much everything including the kitchen sink. But I see this as a bonus. I don't have to have to pay this stuff hauled away.
My goal is to be debt free and earning my living entirely from my home office. I am a web developer so this is a doable goal. I hope to do this within the next five years.
This house is a Michigan HUD foreclosure. To bid on a property you need a realtor registered with HUD to place the bid for you. I worked with Haig Istamboulian of Inside Realty. He was great and made the process very stress free. If you win your bid you need to pay $500 in earnest money. You will then need to close on your home within 60 days, other states are 30 days.
One other fee which I have yet to pay is the final water payment from the City of Detroit. I have yet to do this but I will update this page once I do.
10/28/09 Update
As it turned out I didn't have to worry about a final water bill since the house has not had water service for some time, the water meter had been ripped out a while ago.
I was told by the Detroit Water and Sewer Dept. that the city has contracted with an agency that will replace my water meter. However, before I do that I have to replace the pipe that the water meter connects to in my cellar. It was ripped out right at the floor line. The concrete around the pipe stub will have to be removed so that a new pipe can be installed. I don't know how much that will cost. I am not going to worry about it until next spring.
I have arranged to have the house winterized and the windows and doors more securely boarded up. The roof had a few missing shingles but that was fixed as well.
