Cheap buys, but are they bargains? The houses that sold for $1
With Australian house prices so high, it comes as a fascination how cheaply properties around the world can be sold off for – even at prices as low as $1, £1 and so on.
Here, we take a look at the properties marketed for tiny monetary amounts and the schemes that created them. We do warn that not all present good buying opportunities, and anything that seems to be too good to be true, as the mantra goes, usually is.
Detroit, USA
There are currently three properties on the market for $1 in Michigan’s Detroit. The multi-level family homes are often boarded up in the pictures, and while there are a number of pros and cons to buying US properties - they're largely avoided in Detroit by Australian investors.
Take this four-bedroom, 2,248 square foot house on a total 3,485 square foot lot from 1915.
Or, this three-bedroom two car garage home with a broken porch that looks somewhat burnt out.
This one doesn’t appear to have a roof and includes the following description “Property being sold AS IS. $1000 minimum commission plus an additional $500 to Buyers Agent if closed by 12-31-13.”
Gary, USA
Photo courtesy of CNN Money.
After owners fell behind on property taxes, the city purchased the properties and decided to on-sell them for $1 in an attempt to stabilise the neighbourhood.
With 12 for sale in June, 400 buyers were interested. Buyers must have lived in Gary for six months minimum, have $1,000 in savings, earn a minimum of 80% of the area’s median annual income and renovate the property. They must not own property elsewhere, and must live in the home for five years.
A random drawing of those who passed the criterion (just 25 of the 400 interested) occurred.
The mayor noted that if this succeeded, up to 50 properties per annum could be sold through this scheme.
Liverpool, United Kingdom
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The Homes for a pound scheme received over 1,000 applications in England’s Liverpool, requiring the final allocation being done via ‘lucky draw’ for the 20 properties available located across the Granby Traingle Four Streets. This may be the first of a number of similar draws, with 179 properties in total requiring rejuvenation.
Those who purchased the properties are required to live in them for a minimum of five years and not sub-let the properties. Refurbishments of the properties to meet the ‘Decent Homes Standard’ is also required, with expectations that it will cost in excess of £35,000 per home.
Owners will also be unable to live in the property while the renovations are underway, with estimates of about 12 months’ worth of work.
Many of the Victorian terraces were originally bought for £70,000.
This scheme was only available to those living and working in Liverpool at the time.
Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
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Cobridge in Stoke-on-Trent had 35 two- and three-bedroom homes with backyards put up by council for £1 – along with a low interest loan for a £30,000 renovation.
The £3 million council and government-funded scheme saw more than 600 people apply, with only 75 fitting the criteria.
Buyers must renovate first, and live in the property for five years before selling. They must have lived in the city for three years, have been employed for the last two, and have a joint income of £18,000 to £25,000 per annum, or up to £30,000 with children.
They must not own other property.
If the house is sold within 10 years, then they may find themselves required to pay a proportion of any profit to the council on a sliding scale.
Salemi, Italy
Offering historical properties for €1 in 2008 in Sicily’s Salemi, an area said to have “mafia connections,” the mayor told The Independent that he’d had over 6,000 enquiries.
The properties would require a €20,000 spend to knock them into shape, having largely been abandoned for 40 years and being earthquake damaged. Some of those requiring more extensive work could have required up to €150,000, a pamphlet from Moss Italian Property Consultants warned.
Many needed complete rebuilding to bring them in line with local building regulations.
Rhône-Alpes, France
Photo courtesy of eBay
A ‘haunted house’ was auctioned off on eBay for just €1 in the French town of Arbresle. The 110 square metre property had the owner telling those who didn’t believe it was haunted to refrain from contacting her. Listed in January this year by Maud69620, a 1950s murder is apparently behind the hauntings.
Across Australia
We couldn't find anything in inner-city Sydney, sadly, but properties for $1 in Australia are not completely unheard of.
In Queensland's Richmond, in May, four 800 square metre blocks were sold in a "buck for a block" ballot.
More than 3,000 registered their interest - with the only condition being a letter of credit from a bank to build within two years' time.
The town undertook the same scheme in 2008, with four blocks again. At the time, 300 people applied.
The North Queensland Register noted the response to the scheme was that of a 'frenzy'.
Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory also saw a young couple attempt to sell off their block for $1, reported the ABC in 2004.
And $1 a week in rent has also not been entirely unhead of.
Whether it's Cumnock's Rent A Farm House scheme, or Levendale, Tasmania's bid to save their school by asking renters with children to move in, it has been seen.