Detroit is a major city in the state of Michigan that was once home to the booming auto industry.
In the 1950s, the auto industry started to decline and companies started moving out of Detroit. By the 1960s, people were leaving Detroit in droves. In 2013, the city filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Now, more than five years later, more and more programs are being put into place to help improve the city.
Wealthy entrepreneurs are investing in the city, too. Just consider billionaire Dan Gilbert, who founded Quicken Loans. As Business Insider previously reported, after Gilbert moved his company to downtown Detroit in 2010, he started the real-estate firm Bedrock. Not only is Quicken Loans one of Detroit's largest employers and taxpayers, but as of 2018, Bedrock has invested or allocated $5.6 billion in roughly 100 properties in downtown Detroit and nearby neighborhoods.
In June 2017, Vincent Orr purchased this Detroit home for his mother through the Detroit Land Bank Authority's (DLBA) daily auction. It cost him $2,100.
Orr is a native Detroiter. He grew up in the same zip code where he purchased the home, which is located in the northwest Detroit neighborhood of Fitzgerald.
Orr graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in media arts and is currently a production supervisor.
"My family roots in this neighborhood run pretty deep," he told Business Insider. "I wanted to stay around and bring it back to the level that I remember it at when I was a child."
"When I first purchased the house, it was in complete shambles," he said.
According to the neighbors, the home had been vacant for around ten years, Orr told Business Insider.
Orr told Business Insider that the porch was torn up, the windows were missing, and the roof was caving in.
It wasn't just the exterior of the home Orr had to worry about: The interior needed work, too. The upgrading process included, among many other steps, replacing pipes and walls.
When the home was purchased, the cabinets in the kitchen were worn down, dirty, and had missing parts.
All in all, Orr told Business Insider that he spent $40,000 over the course of the nine-month renovation process.
Orr only hired workers when it came time to install the ductwork for a forced-air central heating system and to repair the roof.
The hardest part of the process was finding contractors, Orr explained to Business Insider. Though he did most of the work himself, steps like finding a roofing company turned out to be more difficult than he expected.
When it came to checking in with the DLBA, Orr explained to Business Insider that the process went smoothly. To keep the DLBA up to date, Orr sent them images of the home throughout the renovation process.
"For the final inspection, they didn't have to come out because I documented everything with photographs and sent it to them. They had been following the process along the way," Orr told Business Insider. "You have to show them evidence of the house being occupied, so you show them furniture in the living room, furniture in the bedrooms, and appliances in the kitchen."
As soon as the home was completed, Orr's mother was able to move in. Now, he says, they're focused on decorating.
In March of 2019, Orr purchased the home next door through the DLBA's Own It Now platform. He won the home for $1,200 through a blind bid. Orr is currently in the process of renovating it.
Homes on the DLBA's Auction platform come with everything from property-condition reports to free tours prior to auction dates. There are no hidden fees, no credit checks, and all the title work is done before the home is listed. The DLBA even protects homeowners from inheriting back taxes or outstanding bills on the property.
The DLBA joins a host of other organizations and individuals working to revitalize Detroit.
A weak housing market and low-valued homes have made it difficult for Detroiters to obtain mortgages. The Detroit Home Mortgage program (DMH), which was put into place in 2016, is working to increase homeownership in the city by lending qualified buyers the money needed to both purchase and renovate homes in the city.
Through the program, Detroiters can receive two loans. The first mortgage is for the appraised value of the home; the second mortgage, which has a limit of $75,000, closes the gap between the home's sale price and its appraised value, while also covering the cost of renovations.
