[SamuraiScot]

I don't get it. Why don't they let the owners sell the houses cheaper? Or if for some reason the city holds title, auction them off to the highest bidder?

Surely they're not being influenced by friends in the real-estate business who hold lots of inventory that they bought too dear. Government-induced scarcity? Impossible, pardon my leaping to conclusions.

[C19fan]

You can buy a house in Detroit for less than a car.

[SeekAndFind]

I don't get it. Why don't they let the owners sell the houses cheaper?

Who do you sell it to ? No one wants to buy. Who wants to live or start a business in that city ? Some houses have their prices slashed to less than $10,000 already (Yep, less than the price of a second hand Toyota) and still no takers.

[N3WBI3]

Some houses cant be given away, quite literally...

A house abandoned for a year needs a lot of repair... A shoddy house abandoned for a decade is beyond salvage.

[Pessimist]

I think they’re actually worth 0, despite the author’s claims.

[Frantzie]

“Homes” require responsible owners that have jobs plus some sort of economy that is not totally based on govt jobs.

Detroit has none of the above criteria. It is a moonscape or wasteland. This is what liberalism, unions, Democrats and race guilt can do.

[grellis]

In many cases, the owner of the home is the City itself, or Wayne County. Former owners abandoned them when they were unable to sell. The houses stood vacant and became targets for vandals and all sorts of criminal activity. This led to more people abandoning their homes. Now there are streets in Detroit that are less than 20% occupied--there are even streets that have been entirely abandoned. Detroit has to maintain sewage lines and other utilities to these areas, has to plow the streets in the winter (Detroit gets snow every now and then, who knew?), and the City's first responders--police and fire--have to spend a putrid amount of time taking care of business in these areas...abandoned homes burning, criminals seeking refuge from the law, etc...

This is NOT a shot at government-induced scarcity. This is a city coming to grips with reality. The "Romney home" is making headlines because of its association with the family and its recent price tag. Most of the homes scheduled for demolition are worth--literally--zero. A home is worth what the market will pay. Most of these homes failed to garner a single bid at auction. They are not only worthless, their continued existence is a financial drain on a bankrupt city.

This is not the kind of solution I would like to see used anywhere but in the most desperate situations. That's Detroit.

[Hot Tabasco]

Or if for some reason the city holds title, auction them off to the highest bidder?

They just tried that this past year with horrible results.......Nobody was willing to buy.

[Publius Valerius]

Why don't they let the owners sell the houses cheaper?

Because they are worth nothing. Romney's old house was a recent high-profile example. It's in a good neighborhood, but it has been vacant for over a year. In that year, it has fallen into disrepair. It would cost more money to repair it than it is worth. Who would pay $500,000 to repair a house worth $300,000?