Further property madness in the States, a house in Detroit has been sold for a dollar. Of course, it’s not in the nicest neighbourhood.

The house, once dubbed ‘the nicest on the block’ when it sold for £30,000 in November 2006, was foreclosed last summer and stripped away by local thieves.

Scrappers tore out the copper plumbing, the boiler and light fixtures, taking everything of value, including the kitchen sink.

The company hired to manage the home and sell it, the Bearing Group, boarded it up only to find the boards stolen and used to board up another abandoned home nearby.

A recurring joke over the last few weeks has been an idea to take advantage of the tanking dollar and the crashing US house prices due to the whole sub-prime disaster and buy a house in America. Not a serious thought, but you can get properties in Detroit from $100. Many of them look like they’ve been burnt out, there’s no telling what the structure would be like and you might have to put up with occasional gunplay in the street, but it’s still a house for fifty quid.

If you want to spend a little more ($1,450) you could have this nice lakeside duplex– “# RV/boat parking # Interior features may include: Basement, Carpet, Wood flrs”

$5,000 will get you this property, which needs a bit of “sweat equity” invested to make it a dream home. “Sweat equity” is my phrase of the day.

If you think big, $30,000 will get you a two bed apartment with lake views and direct marina access.

The question is, is there a nice, safe part of Detroit to live in?

via Telegraph blogs