It has been revealed that a Michigan businessman has purchased every foreclosed property in his county for a total outlay of $4.9 million, which equates to just $7,500 per home.
Bill McMachen is a former yacht dealer and is finding that he is now being bombarded with emails from prospective buyers looking to purchase one of the 403 properties he bought in Macomb County.
McMachen said: "It's overwhelming. I'm having a hard time keeping up with them all." He hopes to renovate some of the more dilapidated properties and see a profit of approximately $2 million on his investment.
Not everyone was happy with McMachen's move, however, as many people were turned away from the auction after having waited for hours and paid $500 to register. One potential buyer said: "I feel bad that it went that way. If we knew it was going to happen like this we wouldn't have wasted any time."
Ted Wahby, Macomb Country Treasurer, stated that it was the county's responsibility to make sure that the taxes were collected and this is what they ensured had happened. Wahby said: "People who are going to buy five or ten houses weren't buying them because they wanted to move in."
Wahby was not insensitive to the plight of the buyers who missed out, stating that he knew they also wanted to make money on the properties. He added: "I have a job to do, I have to collect the taxes and that's what we did."
McMachen stated that the people who missed out at the auction were welcome to buy one of the properties from him at around the same price that they were likely to have paid at the auction.
