It’s a running joke that in recent times you can buy houses in the US for as little as a cheap night out, yet one yacht-dealing millionaire has done just that.
American Bill McMachen Tuesday told the USA’s Fox News that as his first foray into the real estate business he purchased an entire county’s 650 tax foreclosed properties put on auction last week.
McMachen put down US$4.8m for the lot of homes, averaging $7,000 a property. The properties were sold by Macomb County, Detroit, for only the price of the taxes owed on each. Businessinsider.com reported that in some cases the taxes owed were as little as $50.
Businessinsider added that this was an example of how struggling US municipal governments have resorted to desperate measures to fill their coffers.
McMachen said he would flip some of the homes for a profit, donating others to families in need.
