MI Foreclosures

'Greenhabbing' MI Foreclosures

Ryan Burk, a Michigan real estate investor, has taken the idea of rehabbing MI foreclosures to a new level. His company, In The Now Investments LLC, installs energy-efficient products during renovation of the Detroit area homes he purchases. Of the MI foreclosures he has rehabilitated, all are equipped with high-performance insulation in the attic and walls, and they are also outfitted with high-efficiency appliances and insulated windows.

Burk purchases Michigan foreclosures, rehabs and rents the homes then takes advantage of tax credits offered by the US government to receive up to one-third of his investment back. He refer to this new model of buying and selling as “tree-hugging capitalism” or “greenhabbing” for short. He also feels it “has to make sense economically,” while at the same time knows he can “do the right thing.”

One benefit he receives; a tax credit for approximately half the cost when installing high-performance insulation. In addition, he takes advantage of rebates by using low VOC paint and other environmentally friendly products. For example, he Read the rest of this entry »

Evidence of a continued recession and the ongoing fallout of MI foreclosures was manifest in a recent, unexpected turn of events at an apartment complex in Melvindale. Over ten thousand applicants arrived at Coogan Terrace last week, a complex which qualifies for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8. This 199-unit high-rise is a public housing establishment available to those 62 years or older or who are low income and are handicapped on Social Security disability.

The Housing Commission of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a waiting list of 100 people. Due to a decline in the list, the commission announced it was accepting resident applications. However, the discommodious nature of the turnout was thought to be promulgated by the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where news of the announcement spread very quickly.

The high rate of unemployment coupled with an increase in MI foreclosures due to the subprime banking collapse is likely to have attributed to the overwhelming number of people who showed up with hopes of qualifying for a spot on the list.

The employees at Coogan Terrace have a very big job to undertake in order to sort through the enormous amount of paperwork set before them. Housing director Theresa Kirk stated it may be summertime to get all of the applications entered into the system and jokingly admitted, “We should be good for the next 20 years.”

Until we see consistent declines in unemployment and MI foreclosures, the scenario which was played out above will unlikely be the first or only event of its kind to have occurred, nor the last for that matter, for some time to come.

Pontiac Silverdome Auction

Reflecting the huge losses banks are taking on their inventory of MI foreclosures once resold on the open market, the recent auction of the Silverdome for just 1% of what it cost to build in the early 1970s reveals just how difficult things have become for commercial real estate ventures. However, that sale has been challenged by a rival buyer, and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Edward Sosnick scheduled a hearing for Monday after issuing an injunction to halt the sale.

Home base to the Detroit Lions football team from 1975 until 2002, which cost $55 million to construct, it sold for just $583,000 to the highest bidder, a Toronto based investment group, Triple Properties, whose plans were to revamp it for men’s and women’s professional soccer teams.

The rival buyer, developer H. Wallace Parker of Silver Stallion Development, was approved to purchase the building over a year ago by the Pontiac City Council for Read the rest of this entry »