Deal of the day: A few "fixer" houses....and they pay YOU to take them!

Say you're looking to relocate to somewhere new...somewhere that brings new meaning to the term "buyers' market"?  Well, it's likely that nowhere on earth would offer you better "deals" than the city of Detroit, Michigan, USA (my hometown!).  Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's administration is working to develop several plans to try to save the blighted downtown area of what was once the world's automotive capital.  In 1950, Detroit was ranked as the #5 most populous city in the U.S., with 1,849,568 people.  Today, it is ranked #11, with (as of 2009) 919,921---almost exactly half of what it was 60 years ago.  More than 125,000 property parcels in Detroit are either vacant or abandoned. There are some areas of Detroit where block after block are either scarred by abandoned hulks of what were once fine homes, or have been completely cleared of everything--with plans in place of returning the land to farmland!  One program offers $150,000 in housing

renovation money; which means, basically, you get a house and land for free, and are given $150K for your trouble.  And trouble it would no doubt be, indeed.  But apparently, the groundswell of "urban pioneers" is slowly starting to make a dent in the city's wreckage as one-by-one, these brave souls are taking on what would undoubtedly be an enormous task.  But hey:  At these prices, ya can't kick!  All of the houses pictured above are part of the program, as are 97 others pictured at the website (below). 

http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/

Your new neighbor, Eminem, would mostly likely pat you on the back for joining the effort to save poor old Detroit.  Come on!  A little elbow grease, a few nails...some nice paint....you're good to go!