Online Stock Trades - Alternative Investments

Homes for Sale

Got some cash ? Looking for an alternative investment ? Why not buy a house ? The US real estate market is still so bad that you can now buy a house for $1,000. A lot of them are in the north-east - 18 in Flint, Michigan, for less than $3,000, 46 in Cleveland, 22 in Indianapolis, and 709 in Detroit.

Most of these houses are of course being sold at a great loss by the banks that repossessed them, which makes you wonder why they didn't sell them to the people they evicted.

The fact of the matter is it is often cheaper for the banks to give the houses away rather than waste time trying to realize their true market value.

In Detroit a 3-bed, one-bathroom bungalow is on sale for just $500, but it needs total refurbishment inside, costing between $15,000 and $20,000. But last time it sold for $72,000 just 18 months ago in 2007.

Lenders are basically looking to get rid of properties rather than maintain them and pay property taxes.

The price of the house usually goes straight to the real estate brokers and sometimes the lender has to add a bit more to make it worth the realtor's while.

The houses need to be fixed up with new wiring, plumbing and heating, walls and ceilings sheet-rocked.

But even so they are still bargains.

Cleveland also has many incredibly cheap homes such as a 4-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom house for $1,900.

It has a deep front porch with Doric columns, but as a sign of how nad things are, the last time it sold was just one year ago in March 2008 for $16,677.

Buyers can however get government help to finance repairs from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

There may also be the possibility of grant money from the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program designed to help buyers with grants for down payments.
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