So Detroit was gutted and its communities destroyed so

[Skidmore]

properties could be sold to the Chinese for the price of a pair of shoes?

http://www.franchiseherald.com/articles/15090/20141122/chinese-investors-sell-property-bankrupt-detroit-price-pair-shoes.htm



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/china
/chinese-investors-snap-property-bankrupt-detroit-n253186

[arcane1]

1. That's been happening in San Francisco too, and London.

And those properties sit empty, as a safe "investment" for someone who will never set foot in it.

We have a really messed-up idea of what housing is.

[Wella]

2. Why haven't Americans been offered the same opportunity?

Why are they going to China to sell these homes? I'd invest.

[Skidmore]

3. That was my initial reaction.

It appears to have been calculated to avoid doing so.

[Wella]

4. Bastards! Americans would have more of a stake in an American city, an American neighborhood.

So they want the Chinese to buy instead.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. The average person can't afford the ridiculously inflated property taxes...

I used to appraise in the city of Detroit, and I'm interested to see how they handle property taxes.

Interesting side note: Twenty years ago, they did offer properties to local investors. Fifty dollars a lot if you would keep it mowed and paid the taxes. My mentor invested.

[Wella]

6. I wonder if the Chinese investors have to keep it mowed and pay taxes

Thanks for the info.