The $1.75 House...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
October 2, 2008 10:50am CST
Just this morning there was an article about a woman in Chicago that bought a house in Saginaw, MI for………$1.75!! The house was listed on Ebay and had a total of 8 bids. The woman that won it will have to pay approx. $850 in back taxes and yard clean up. The house is labeled as condemned and will have to have work done to it to get it off that list. The seller also bought it off an Ebay listing but hasn’t done anything with it.
Personally, I might have done it too but I would have done a little more background on it. For instance, if it’s in a druggy area then it probably isn’t even worth the $1.75. Also unless you can get someone to handle it in the area, there isn’t much point in having it b/c there would be no way to do the maintenance, keep an eye on it or take care of it. I would only have done it if I had plans to move to Michigan anyways.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/house-bought-on-ebay-for-220/2008/10/02/1222651236986.html
Would you have bought the house? How would you have handled the upkeep and renovations to it if you lived out of state? Would you buy a house simply from an Ebay listing? Looking at the picture of the house, what’s your thoughts about it?
[b]**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~[/b]
11 people like this
37 responses
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
2 Oct 08
You have to take into consideration the land it is sitting on is worth more than $851.75. She may want to tear the house down and build a new one on the lot. She may want to tear it down and later build a new one.
I think some people will buy anything.
I have no plans to move to Michigan so I do not thing I would buy it. If it was here in CA in my home town I think I might considerate it.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
2 Oct 08
If she fixed it up it could be a decent rental property. Regardless of the side of town it's in, someone would always be willing to rent it.
2 people like this
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
2 Oct 08
[i]Hi twoey,
hmm...I have no plan in living in MI, so I will not be buying this..LOL! It's fun and nice to just pay that small but with the work needed and money needed to fix it, it's nice for me to just get a good one which is within my budget and with that, I am not also sure about the neighborhood! LOL![/i]
2 people like this
@Yestheypayme2dothis (7874)
• United States
2 Oct 08
I never would have bought it. This house will cause her more trouble than it is worth, especially since she has to pay $850 in back taxes and clean up. She will have to find someone she can trust to do the clean up. How will she do that from where she lives? After all that, will she be able to sell it for at least the cost of all that? I think it is unlikely. It looks like a rough area. People don't have money to throw around.
2 people like this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
2 Oct 08
If I went on ebay and saw this house, it would probably go in my watched items but there is no way I would bid on it. I mean look at it, it looks like it is about to fall down any second! It is also wood, and I bet it is absolutely rotten too. I live in UK so it would have been impossible for me to look after it without it costing an absolute fortune, no, I reckon I would just have to stick it back on ebay and try to resell it!
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
2 Oct 08
I saw on TV where the city of Detroit had houses for sale for a dollar, in nice neighborhoods, but they had been gutted for salvageable metals, etc. I am not moving to any part of Michigan, so I would not do it. My daughter tried to enter a contest to win a $300,000 home in Springfield, Missouri, but not enough people entered the contest so it was cancelled. People who entered had to pay $100, but that was returned to the entrants when the contest was called off. Yes, she would have moved there. I would not try to handle a house long distance, without a property agent.
1 person likes this
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
2 Oct 08
I just read about this! I would have bought the house if it was in my town or a town near enough to me that I could go there and fix it up and resell it. Did she know that the back taxes were $850?
There was actually a house in our town that was free if you paid the back taxes. We looked into it because I have always wanted to try and flip a house. We decided against it because the taxes were thousands.
1 person likes this
@tyc415 (5706)
• United States
2 Oct 08
If I lived in the area or had someone I could trust that could go by it and let me know more about it then there is no way I would bid on it just by the picture alone. It does sound like the person might be better off just having it torn down and sell the property to try to get some money back on the deal.
1 person likes this
@amanda333 (739)
• France
2 Oct 08
i suppose you could make money on this house, the land its self is worth something, but its in a bit of a mess
1 person likes this
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
3 Oct 08
The only sane response lol to the discussion. I live in a rural area in Australia, and even here a building block goes for around $80,000 in town. I would have bid like a shot, and if it turned out there was nothing salvageable in the house itself, then tear it down, clean up the block, and sell it.
If it was salvageable, consider that in the face of the financial crisis, which will undoubtedly hurt the US worse than anywhere else, owning a house outright, even in poor condition, is a safeguard against unemployment and homelessness. My partner and I could not have bought a one-room hovel in a big city for what we paid for this place, which we actually rather love, and since we are on fixed incomes any crash can really hurt us. With a roof over our head, we will never go cold, and with land to grow vegetables on, will will never go hungry.
Lash
2 people like this
@Linda4ualways (2282)
• United States
2 Oct 08
My first response after looking at the house would be No! I wouldn't have bought because if the outside looks that bad, imagine the inside. With that house, you would definitely need a whole lot of money to fix it up. The piping, the walls, floors, ceilings, bathroom, living room, kitchen..........everything would have to be done. And looking at the surrounding homes, the neighborhood doesn't look that enticing. Like you said twoey, a thorough investigation about the house would have to be made. Take care and God Bless!
1 person likes this
@1131958 (19)
• United States
2 Oct 08
Omg! this lady is in big trouble,forget the $850 in clean ups,what about the laws and codes,if this house is condemed then bringing it out will be costly all in itself,let alone the fact it apears the seller may even have some fines sitting on the books,and those fines follow the house,property fines stay with property not owner unless court ordered,I feel bad for this lady her WOW! I bought a house for $1.75 is going to hit her real hard after the paper work is signed and sealed
1 person likes this
@bmorehouse1 (1028)
• United States
2 Oct 08
I think I might have considered buying it. How could you go wrong even if you have to pay $850 in back taxes. With some work, I'm sure that you could make some money on it. Even if you tore it down, you could problaby sell the lot. I live out of state, but would consider traveling there to see what actually needs to be done and if there would be someone local that you could rely on to do the work. Its a thought! Best wishes to the woman who bought it!
1 person likes this
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
3 Oct 08
I wouldn't have bought it because I would have no idea how to do the repairs. I'm just not ready for a long distance responsibility like this. Still, it might be an interesting challenge if I had more time available.
@monkeykingaround (896)
• United States
3 Oct 08
I would have bid on this house if I knew about it. Any sane person should. It's a sweet deal. I can always resell it. The only problem is do you trust the seller to not tell you all the details.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
3 Oct 08
I'd also want to know what's on the title. Even a house in a bad neighborhood can sometimes make a good rental property but It's usually true that if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
@jillmalitz (5131)
• United States
3 Oct 08
Well like they say, you get what you pay for. When I saw it on tv I thought she did not know what she was doing. On the other hand maybe she could fix it up and get the taxes done. Maybe she could sell it at a small profit. I don't know if it would be worth keeping especially if the neighborhood is questionable.
@msmargo (361)
• United States
5 Oct 08
I saw this article also. There is no way I would buy this house if I lived out of state. You always hear horror stories of out of state property owners trying to manage their rentals. You have to somehow get a reputable property manager. As someone else mentioned here, the house is not located in a very desirable neighborhood. I've heard Michigan has the worst economy in the nation. There are tons of foreclosures and boarded up buildings. I don't know; you would have to have the fortitude to hang on to this property for a good long while until the market comes back. I'll let someone else do the honor.
