Advise for buying a land bank home in Grand Rapids MI

[Michael Stack]

I am looking at purchasing a Land Bank Home in Grand Rapids MI. I am looking for anybody who has any experience or advise in doing this. I have never purchased a land bank home and wonder how it works.

[Randy Charboneau]

Hello!  My name is Randy Charboneau.  I'm the listing agent for the Kent County Land Bank.  If you have questions about the process, I'm probably the best one to ask.

The Land Bank was created to eliminate blight in the Kent County area and specifically Grand Rapids.  It was quite a problem back when it was created.   Even in this hot market, blight still exists throughout Grand Rapids for various reasons.   It is the Land Bank's mission to clean this up.

In order to accomplish these goals, the Lank Bank has restrictions and qualifications on who buys their homes.  You can imagine if you sell a home for $15,000 to someone who only has that much cash what little will actually be done to the home in the near future.  It is this process that they make sure the buyers and investors who purchase these homes have a good renovation plan and the resources available to ensure the homes become an asset for the neighborhood.

Here is how the process works:

1.  Each offer must include a renovation plan detailing your plans to restore the property and your financial investment.   They have a form you can fill out to show this.

2.  You must have experience renovating properties or have access to someone who will help you

3.  You must have CASH to buy it, CASH to fix it, and prove this.  Non-owner occupied loans aren't possible on most of these homes due to the poor shape and condition.

4. Owner Occupants can apply to a bank for renovation financing. You must qualify for the price of the home plus the repairs (Repairs will be over $20,000 usually). Lake Michigan Credit Union offers a renovation loan. Most banks also offer FHA 203K which is also a renovation loan.

5.  The property must be on the market for 20 days before they can review any bids. All bids will be reviewed after the 20 days and evaluated then.   This gives everyone time to view the home and put their renovation plan together.

I will be happy to answer any other questions and assist you anyway I can.  Feel free to contact me (hit my profile for contact info).   Thank you!