All Forum Posts by: Adam Smith

@Joshua Woolls @Mike Carino

Unfortunately I don't know much more than what I posted above. Mike's summary seems about right on process, however I know that a lot of properties get pulled from the auction even after the list is made public. My understanding is that generally those houses are pulled as homeowners get current on taxes or get payment plans in place.

That suggests you could work something out to get the house current and transfer title once it's off the auction. You're definitely going to want a lawyer here though. The exact order of how to do it could be tricky, and I'd want a strong contract with the home owner.

All that said, I think it's a super interesting strategy. Please let us know what you learn.

That's really good to know, thanks for sharing it @Jeff Rabinowitz . Last year a lot of properties were removed from the auction in the 2 weeks or so between the property list being released and the bidding opening, I assume those were due to 2011 taxes being made good. Like you said, the Treasurer wants the taxes more than the property. I've also heard of people being on a payment plan for back taxes but I don't know if going on a plan would stop a foreclosure if the taxes are still 3 years back. 

Best of luck @Andy K , please let us know what you learn. 

My understanding is generally Wayne County forecloses once the property goes 3 years delinquent. So if 2014 isn't paid, the county will foreclose (2012, 2013, 2014 is 3 years). Once that process starts there are opportunities to pay off the taxes or go on payment plans and avoid/delay actually being foreclosed. A rough rule of thumb is until bidding starts in in the auction (September-ish), the property can be saved. 

If you can't get help at the county, the Detroit Land Bank or Loveland Technologies do a lot of work re: Wayne county taxes and might be able to answer your questions as well. 

I hope that helps. Also I'm not a tax lawyer or whatever, this is just my understanding of a system I've never worked with firsthand. 

Welcome to the site Joe!

I see this is an old post, I assume you aren't still selling? I buy in Inkster and also have a contractor who might be able to help if you dealings around here. PM me if you're interested.

The again, in direct contradiction to what I just wrote, this article showed up in my sidebar and talks about how to finance $30k properties: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/?p=67137

You might be a good candidate for house hacking as well, either with traditional finance (probably with a small 2nd loan for the downpayment) or owner financed if you can find it. Just brainstorming ideas.

Welcome to the site! I'd echo Michele's sentiments. If you do the legwork you might find a traditional lender to bank at those numbers but with conventional loans it really doesn't work. That doesn't mean you don't have options though. Detroit has a lot of land contract deals, or you could partner with another investor either as debt finance or an equity partner. 

I'm dipping my toes into the Detroit market and looking at properties mostly right around that price point right now as well, feel free to connect if you want to talk any more about what I've seen going on around here.

Adam

Welcome to the site @Sinaloa Hobson . I live in the city, feel free to drop me a line if you ever have questions about it.

This thread has pretty good insight on Detroit: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/159...

There's plenty of money being made in Detroit, but I see you're from Maryland. If your interest is low-cost rentals you might want to track down Lisa Phillips on here. She's active in Baltimore which is a similar market to Detroit but much closer to home for you. Being able to drive your properties and neighborhoods can be a real benefit. 

I just posted a similar question and was recommended Key Bank for creative financing. Another thread suggested Vibe Credit Union but didn't give any particular reason. Vibe is SE Michigan only, while I think Key Bank is statewide. 

Thanks all for the information, I really appreciate it. @Dan Gheesling, thanks for the area specific recommendation. I'll give Key Bank a call.