Dive Brief:

• A lot of Detroit houses need to come down as surgery seeks to cut out the blight that afflicts much of the city, but an online bidding effort – Neighbors Wanted – seems to be off to a strong start in finding buyers who will repair buildings and put people in them.
• The program kicked off May 5 and has declared winning bids on 60 buildings so far – with July 5 as the first deadline for buyers to close on houses bought for $20,000 or less.
• The program requires the buyer to show the city a construction contract or receipts for repair materials within 30 days of closing and to have a certificate of occupancy and someone living on-site within six months.

Dive Insight:

Most houses are in rugged shape, in need of structural repair, sometimes stripped of copper pipe and other system materials. City officials believe, however, that rehab is better than demolition if possible, and not just because the tab for blight removal citywide may hit $2 billion.