Merry Tours Viewing Ruins Of Foreclosure Tornado

February 26th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure

West Michigan saw its first foreclosure merry tour take off last Saturday. William Byrant is a businessman and knows when to make hay when the sun shines. It may have dipped to darkness elsewhere but for him it is time to make quick deals. He already own four properties that he has rented out and now wants to extend his opportunities by buying bank owned houses. These houses had been foreclosed and now reverted to the banks – the latter being eager to offload them. Apart from Byrant there were 16 others availing of the tour organized by James Goetzka, a realtor. Another tour is scheduled to be held in another three weeks. Jeremy Smith is another such investor who lives in a four roomed apartment and is hunting around for something better.

Realtors are being pushed into trying to be more innovative in peddling their wares – banked owned houses that were previously foreclosed. So they have come up with these tours that take those who are interested on a tour to see the houses for themselves. Similar bus tours are rolling in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada and Tennessee. The plan was first brought into play by two realtors from Detroit about eight months ago.

Goetzka has pioneered it in West Michigan. He takes the passengers in a rented bus in two groups to view 10 bank owned houses. Most of the passengers are investors. He gives all the details of the houses – the most important being the asking price of the banks; this keeps tumbling by the day as more and more houses are foreclosed. The houses were not in too bad a shape – requires cleaning and sprucing. One or two let out musty smells and seemed to need major repairs. The lowest price tag was $15,000 dollars for a three bed roomed house in Sigsbee. The floor was full of garbage and there were holes in the walls and ceilings. The investors had to weigh the pros and cons – the price was low but the repair costs seemed high. At the other end of the price scale was $130,000 Heritage Hill home cut up into three divisions. Many shied away from the prospect of the upkeep of this 108 year old piece of antiquity with a crumbling porch and gaping walls. What was despair for some yesterday spells hope to many today.