EΛ TA NEA (C) HELLAS XG 2024: American Dream Slipping...Going, going, still going: Detroit family home still for sale after 519 days despite being on the market for just $1

Παρασκευή 2 Αυγούστου 2013

American Dream Slipping...Going, going, still going: Detroit family home still for sale after 519 days despite being on the market for just $1

Bargain: This 1915 home in Detroit has been on the market for just $1 for 519 days

It may not look particularly attractive, but as just $1 this family home is a complete bargain.

However, despite being on the market for the drop-down price since February last year, the Detroit property is astonishingly still for sale.

It is one of a number of run-down properties lying in the suburbs of Michigan's largest city, which earlier this month filed for bankruptcy, crippled by enormous debts.

Bargain: This 1915 home in Detroit has been on the market for just $1 for 519 days

Built in 1915, the property on Saint-Clair Street has been listed for sale since May 2011.

After initially being placed on the market for $900, its price was dramatically reduced to just $1 in February last year.

A description of the property on the Zillow website describes it as a 'Multi Family home featuring 2 units, hardwood floors, basement, and much more!'

The home is symbolic of the entire city, which earlier this month filed for bankruptcy. It is one of a number of homes across Detroit on the market for $1.

After standing empty for so long, the houses are often ransacked by thieves who strip them of everything, including water tanks and pipes.

Destroyed: Detroit is a city in ruins, with once thriving neighborhoods reduced to rubble

Lots of history: This three-bedroom one-bath home complete with a one car garage built in 1917 has previously been listed for $1

Estate agent Albert Hakim said the sale of these distressed properties comes with many other fees and expenses, which many buyers are naive to.

'They don't understand, when the house sits vacant, that [thieves are] going to bust in and steal the pipes, steal the water tank,' Mr Hakim told the Huffington Post .

In addition to the expected costs of fixing up homes or bulldozing and starting from the ground up, Detroit has the highest property taxes among big cities nationwide.

According to a new analysis by the Detroit News, half of Detroit property owners also don't pay taxes leaving many that do disgruntled about the underfunded city services expected by homeowners.

Corner lot: This three-bedroom, one bath on Muirland St has also previously been listed for $1

Worrying: Detroit owes $18.5 billion in long-term debt and its population fell 25 per cent in the past decade

'Why should I send them taxes when they aren't supplying services?’ homeowner Fred Phillips who owes more than $2,600 recently told the paper.

'Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came.'

Detroit has seen a 25 per cent drop in the number of homes for sale in the last year.

In its heyday, it was the place where workers in a rising middle class flocked to factories to build the cars that changed America's way of life. It was a city of innovation, of pride, of grit.

Now, there are roughly 700,000 people left, less than half of the 1.8 million who called the city home when population peaked in the 1950s.

The city owes $18.5 billion in long-term debt. Its police and fire departments are ill-equipped to battle crime and arson, and basic infrastructure and city services desperately need repair.