If you bought one of those with 2nd home type financing (should be better terms than an investment property) and pay the >$2,000 in taxes and ~$300/month HOA fee you are around $1200 a month which is probably more than a similar place will rent for.If you want to go a house for sure then the lowest place is a full rehab/ tear down listed at $260K (only 2br and 700sqft).

Could it be worth more by tearing it down and putting up a skyscraper?

I lived there while remodeling and have just finished it all and purchased the house next door which I intend to move into while designing plans and getting permits to tear it down and build a four-plex.

Can you imagine getting a house sub2, unselling it - or even lease optioning it - with a promise that your people will own it someday - and the transfer get unwound in the BK - you got yourself in a mess that will cost you more blood, sweat and tears to fix - ALWAYS stay away from a sub2 with a potentially BK borrower.OK, now all that stuff - not until after the gavel goes down at the Courthouse steps does the bank "own" the house.

I'm thinking about it more along the lines of: The initial tenant can qualify on his own, there is some added risk and wear and tear on the dwelling with three tenants instead of one - Perhaps a slight rent increase would make all parties happy?

I then put 3 1/2 years of blood, sweat and tears into it and completely remodeled it inside and out.

Also there would be lots more wear and tear on the unit because you typically have large groups and they use hard.If I wanted to use it, then it would "cost" me the same as if was simply renting a place due to lost income.

Can you imagine her tearing up this childhood home?

Are there issues with sewer, underground power or other infrastructure that requires tearing up the lot?

Also below are links about some Detroit's current funding and investment and where its going.Detroit to get $300 million in federal help - Sep. 27, 2013 - CNN Moneyhttp://money.cnn.com/2013/09/27/news/economy/detroit-federal-help/Ford Foundation donates money to help Detroit manage its federal grantshttp://michiganradio.org/post/ford-foundation-donates-money-help-detroit-manage-its-federal-grantsBill Pulte: From Home Builder to Detroit's Unlikely Blight Busterhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2013/10/09/bill-pulte-detroits-unlikely-blight-buster/Gilbert: Tear Down All Of Detroit’s Abandoned Homes At Oncehttp://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/10/01/gilbert-tear-down-all-of-detroits-abandoned-homes-at-once/Plan to eliminate blight in Detroit may top $1 billion, task force sayshttp://www.freep.com/article/20131212/BUSINESS06/312120137/Detroit-blight-Quicken-GilbertDetroit bankruptcy judge orders company to stop collecting casino revenue (Access to about $180 million a year that was flowing to creditors from its casinos)http://whtc.com/news/articles/2013/aug/29/detroit-bankruptcy-judge-orders-company-to-stop-collecting-casino-revenue/http://www.freep.com/article/20130903/NEWS01/309030148/Kevyn-Orr-William-Buckfire-depositions-Detroit-bankruptcyFederal, Foundation, City and Corporate Investment Areas in Detroithttp://datadrivendetroit.org/web_ftp/Data_Mapping/InvestmentAreas.pdfThe Auto Industry Bailouthttp://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/a/auto_bailout.htm