Millionaire Buys All Foreclosed Properties At County Auction

Saw this story and had to chuckle. An investor bought all 650 properties up for auction in a Detroit suburb recently. He made an offer to buy all of them as a package deal for $4.8 million - the total of the minimum bids of each one. Other investors are pissed, obviously.

This houses were all foreclosed on because of delinquent property taxes and the minimum bid amount represented the amount of taxes owed. I understand the ire of the other investors, but I do think the tax collector running the auction has a point. He says "I have to collect the taxes and that's what I did." He also points out that, while some of the properties are in good condition, some are not. Had the properties sold individually, those in poor condition likely would not have sold at all.

But the part that made me chuckle was near the beginning of the article: "Bill McMachen told Fox News 2 this is his first foray into the real estate business."