Would you buy a $1,000 house in Detroit? Detroit Land Bank EXPOSED -- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Answer: Do not buy a $1,000 house in Detroit. Sounds too good to be true? Because it is!!! This house was purchased from the Detroit Land Bank by a tenant of ours a few years ago. I've been waiting to post the video because I don't want to expose her for making this poor choice -- that's what I think! But I have been told in no uncertain terms that it's all a matter of perspective.

A Detroit resident who is struggling to raise her children with an income slightly above minimum wage saw this as her opportunity to never have a landlord again. This could be 100% hers for only $1,000. She understood that it needs some work.

We bought a house she was renting. My husband and I buy houses in Detroit, we renovate them, we place a tenant, then we sell the property to investors.

This tenant in our latest acquisition told us she would move out shortly. She just needed to get this $1000 house to pass the Detroit Land Bank inspection rules so she could move in. After a few months of waiting on her to move out of our house, I asked her if we could see the $1,000 house so we can get a better idea of how long it would take her to move out of our house. She kindly let us.

When we saw just how much work it would need, I thought I'd be helpful and let her know that for that kind of money she could buy a fully renovated house with a mortgage. She did not appreciate my advice AT ALL! Her goal was to not owe anyone anything for where she lived. Having a mortgage would be the opposite. She was actually pretty insulted by my unsolicited advice. I felt horrible. I crossed a line thinking I was being kind and helpful. I should have minded my own business.

We couldn't renovate our new renovation-project house with her in it, so we had to sell it. I let the buyer know the situation. It's been around two years ago now and we do not know how this $1,000 house turned out. Pat and I can't remember the address either, unfortunately. We'd love to drive by and see if she ever finished this.

The Detroit Land Bank has possession of 20% of Detroit properties. The good houses seem to be sold to friends and family of the DLB. They also knock down several distressed properties and sell the lots. Then sometimes they will auction off a bad property. The bidding gets ridiculously too high. But the lowest of low that they do is sell a house like this to a Detroit resident. It should be a knockdown. But it costs around $10k to knock a house down. Selling it for $1,000 and collecting years of taxes is better for the city apparently.

Our tenant who bought this house was always under DLB inspection deadlines. You can see where the walls are open to expose her electric wiring. She had even bought a new toilet and fixtures for the bathroom only to have them stolen by her handyman. Her first electrician robbed her blind too. She seemed to be a target in so many ways. And she is the nicest woman too. She works in adult care facilities and risked her job to expose their sexual predator hiring practices. She does yearly backpack drives so the kids of Detroit have backpacks every fall. That's what she was doing the day I filmed this two years ago.

I hope things have turned out for her. I do not know. I'm afraid to ask after I really insulted her with my suggestions.

If you want to buy a fully renovated & rented house from us, check out what I have for sale now: