Grassroots Homwownership?

Anybody want a cheap house??
$1 buys it!

BUYER TO SIGN SELLER ADDENDUM & PAY FOR CI AND ASSUME CODE VIOLATIONS W/CITY PRIOR TO CLOSE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LIENS OR PAST OUTSTANDING BALANCES.

In other words, it's not up to code and there are tons of liens on it?

That would be the WORST $1 a person could spend: I mean, assume past liens? Not no but HELL no.

my sister paid $1200 for her house in cleveland free and clear, no closing costs or liens. there are deals out there if you know where to look.

Nah, that isn't a Grassroots house, it is just cheap.

A true Grassroots house would have a 12 car garage, a "patio" and plenty of storage, but it would need a little work to bring it up to it's full potential.

A simple title search will yield any potential liens. Might be a great $1 to spend, if the property is free and clear. What would be great for Detroit (and the rest of the country) is if the entities holding these properties (might be banks, servicers, non-profits, etc) would get aggressive about selling these properties to folks interested in doing something with them. While I imagine that house is in a pretty terrible section of town, imagine if a whole group of like-minded individuals went in and bought up BLOCKS of those houses! You could, pretty instantly, create a new community.

I'm in a house search right now and foreclosures are all over the place. What to avoid is a short sale: right now they are anything but short time to close and if you even hint that you might make an offer it starts a shouting war between all involved. BTDT.

Go for a completed foreclosure; that way the only entity you will deal with is the bank and they are not keen on hanging onto them. In most cases, they are the single lienholder meaning you won't get any nasty surprises.

Foreclosures rock. Buying them, that is. House we live in was a previous foreclosure. Long story short. We were building new construction, living in a rental house waiting. Builder went belly up. Got our money back, thankfully, but were at square one looking for a place to live. My agent was looking, but I was combing Realtor.com too. On Christmas Eve day (really), saw this listing for a house that looked too good to be true at the price. Called my agent immediately. Turned out original owner bought in early 2007. House was financed by his father. Dude never made a payment to the bank. Not one. He put it up for sale at an inflated price, even as the market was going bust. Obviously, he didn't sell, so it was foreclosed. Bank then sat on it for a year after that, trying to sell it. So they hadn't been paid on the house in almost 2 years. They were dying to unload it and did a huge price drop. I happened to come across the listing quickly. We were first in line and snagged it. Best stroke of "being in the right place at the right time" luck I've ever had.

patgizz wrote: my sister paid $1200 for her house in cleveland free and clear, no closing costs or liens. there are deals out there if you know where to look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM