Who’s buying up cheap houses in Detroit? 10 leaders at tax auction

Investors scooped up more than 9,000 Detroit homes in a county auction.

Investors scooped up more than 9,000 Detroit homes in a county auction.

But will the Wayne County treasurer enforce the deadline and invalidate the bid of Chicago-area investor Bill Hults?

Chicago-area developer Bill Hults has his eye on Detroit’s east side.

All houses and buildings started with a $500 bid. There were bargains, surprises and duds.

It would be a fitting new chapter for a factory that has come to symbolize Detroit’s decline.

Over the past two months, we’ve chronicled what’s left of the plant – blocks of crumbling buildings, ravaged by scrappers, fire and extreme weather.
Part 2

The symbol of Detroit’s industrial decline attracted 111 bids from around the world.

Whoever buys the lawless wasteland will incur hefty costs for a property that is constantly on fire and crumbling.

Many of the houses up for auction are dilapidated and structurally unsound.