25+ Duplexes for $2,500 each

[Mike D.]

Really ? in the city of Milwaukee WI you can buy a Duplex for $2,500 ! I can only guess at what the condition of these properties ( 60k in rehab) in an area that won't support the cost of the rehab.  Still I find some of them interesting.

[Robert Taylor]

Dawn, Darren and Jay are ALL correct AND if they're city of Milwaukee tax foreclosures, that means a city inspector has already gone through them THOROUGHLY and done a full report on ANY and EVERY issue wrong inside and out and that means they want it fixed up to code (i.e. fixed just right, not some rigged up quick fix) and ALL plumbing and electrical work MUST be permitted, thus you're hiring a master plumber/electrician for that work at around $70/hr +/-.

I very, very much caution anyone from skirting the permit rules not just for possible trouble with the city, lots of people do all sorts of unpermitted work and get away with it from city's point of view, but for liability reasons. The law as I understand it says as long as whatever unpermitted work you do or have done is in use-could be 20, 30, 50 years!-then YOU are liable for any damages resulting from it, if something goes wrong. If you've ever seen an insurance company investigate a large property claim, you'll know what I mean, they'll dig as deep as they have to and God forbid if someone is injured or killed, then the police/fire dept's will be looking too. 

I've heard people say "Yeah, but home electrical is so simple, I do it just as well as any electrician, there aren't going to be any issues!" That might be true, normal home wiring isn't all that complicated, BUT here's another twist, what if some goof comes in after you and your "up to code but not permitted" work and THEY mess it up and then there's a fire and someone dies, leaving a multi-million dollar lawsuit? Then its back on you to prove that work that was done when you owned the place 15 years ago wasn't the problem, good luck with that!

Skirting the permit rules isn't even an option on the city owned homes, they know what's wrong and will expect to see those permits or you'll have a "cease all work" order on the front door in no time and that's when the inspector comes back with the MPD as his/her backup. Also, no guarantees that if the inspection was done say June 1st, that by now in the areas where the cheap tax homes are, that further stripping, squatting or just plain old vandalism hasn't done even more damage, although the city may adjust the price for that, but if there's another 5 grand in damage to a $2500 house, that doesn't then make the price -$2500.00!!!