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Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

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Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#41

Post by ghaff »

TheGRS wrote: post #28
onetimemanytime wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insane, every 22 years house goes to zero value. Probably adding relatively little money can extend the life to 40-50 or so. If I'm 30 and buy a house, makes no sense to need to tear it down when I'm 52.

Its just thinking of your house as a depreciating asset instead of an appreciating one. Much like a car. I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

>I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years.

Why? Unless your needs/life change so much that you either need to move somewhere or want a fundamentally different property. (Which of course aren't uncommon.)

But, in my case, my needs haven't radically changed. I've updated my 200 year old house to be like I want it. I can imagine a lifestyle change but it certainly wouldn't be to another house in the same area.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#42

Post by ransom1538 »

bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

Detroit: If you have a credit card and a want to own an apartment building, it is the place to be. Just needs some elbow grease. There MUST BE opportunity at $5 USD per square foot -- but it is hard to visualize.

https://www.point2homes.com/US/Multi-Family-For-Sale/MI/Detr...

[I think you can talk this guy down to $10k].

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#43

Post by rmason »

coldtea wrote: post #38
bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

Only a property in Detroit in the deserted areas could mean frequent meetings with muggings, violence, etc. In Japan it will just be a regular house.

Actually if you look at what happened to the majority of homes that were rehabbed that's not the case. Most of them were in the downtown area and crime actually went down. Grant you there were urban pioneers that chose less than desirable areas but they were the exception.

In Detroit the formal program run by the city that gave away houses mandated that they be rehabbed and inhabited by the person receiving them for a minimum of five years.

Then there's the Land Bank that buys the houses, then rehabs them and sells them at auction. Know some people who've gotten really good buys, some houses sell below the Land Bank's cost.

https://buildingdetroit.org/?SID=kqj4u36nhvgh8e54pm6v434ai5

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#44

Post by agumonkey »

bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

Japan is a peculiar country, I'd bet a few dollars that they won't abuse the system that much.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#45

Post by sjg007 »

hinkley wrote: post #8
onetimemanytime wrote: post #5

as soon as I sell my $5 Detroit homes :). There's a reason they're being given for free...

I always felt like The Walking Dead was missing an opportunity to do some good. Years ago I read about a movie production crew that got permission to demolish a rundown public building as part of filming in exchange for rebuilding it afterward. For TWD you could use several of those abandoned Detroit neighborhoods for a sequence and then bulldoze the neighborhood to the foundations afterward, reducing the health and…

Probably too expensive to do the bulldozing consider asbestos etc..

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#46

Post by masklinn »

TheGRS wrote: post #39
jonknee wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I actually can't imagine wanting to live in the same house for more than 10 years. But can you imagine knocking it down and building a new one every 10 years?

Yea, this is pretty much what they do in Japan, hence the article.

They don't do that though. What they do is move to a plot of land on which they build a new house. If there's already a house on the plot they bought, it gets torn down (entirely) rather than getting reused/renovated.

When people don't move, their house doesn't get torn down.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#48

Post by yardie »

bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

It's a lot more complex than that. Usually these deals have tax liabilities and liens that aren't chargeable unless the city agrees to it. Anyone can tell you, there is nothing more expensive than a free house/boat/car.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#49

Post by moftz »

jimkri wrote: post #20
LrnByTeach wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, Can you give some addresses ( or Zillow web url links) of Detroit home addresses where the home prices are so cheap

Here are some below $10k https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Detroit-MI/17762_rid/0...

A lot of those ads seem to think that anyone would buy those homes to renovate them. Tearing them down seems to be the smart decision, if you could even consider buying abandoned Detroit homes smart. One of them has fire damage throughout the home, literally holes in the roof from the fire. Ad calls it a "handyman special".

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Detroit-MI/88117170_zp...

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