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I could see this in Palmdale, or maybe Victorville…….but could it happen here?

An update on Flint, MI:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/20/AR2009062000956.html

An excerpt:

Then he looks at what’s left of the neighborhood – blocks lined with bruised homes and broken windows. Two streets over, someone has nailed a plywood sign to a tree: “No Prostitution Zone.” On three blocks of Jane, the city is targeting 14 homes for demolition, four of which have already been scarred by fires.

“My dad, he can’t come down this street anymore. … It’s too hard to see,” Kildee says. “Because his whole life was here.”

What was once Buick City is largely a cement prairie now, and General Motors, which once employed more than 80,000 in the city of its founding, has cut its Flint work force to about 6,000. Flint’s population, which peaked at 197,000, dwindled to 115,000 in 2007, and falling.

To stabilize the city, Kildee started the Genesee County Land Bank, which has taken title to 9,000 properties since 2002, tearing down 1,000 and selling or rehabbing others.

The foreclosure crisis has made the job even tougher, leaving the Land Bank with at least 1,000 more abandoned homes to demolish.

If you’re looking for a deal, your best chance is with a vacant property.

Here’s a glimpse of the detached and attached ACTIVE listings, and percent of vacants:

Oct. 12th:  6,876 vacant/16,947 total = 40.6%

Feb. 20th:  5,600 vacant/14,518 total = 38.6%

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Here’s a look at the PENDING file:

Oct. 12th: 3,940 vacant/6,095 total pendings = 64.6%

Feb. 20th: 3,940 vacant/5,934 total pendings = 66.4%

Don’t you love the statistical quirks – the exact same number of vacant pendings!

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SOLDS between January 1st and February 19th:

2008 – 1,375 vacants/2,094 total = 65.7%

2009 – 2,484 vacants/3,209 total = 77.4% of all solds were vacant

Though sales are up 53% YOY, you can see why, the vacants are up 81%. 

There are bank deals, and everything else.

Thinking of selling? 

Do what the banks do – vacate the property and price it 5% under the comps!