Advice From An Artist: A $500 House is a Process

Have you decided what you are going to do with your $500 house when the next round of the Wayne County foreclosure auction kicks off on October 21? May be a good idea to talk to someone that bought last year. Gina Reichert's non-profit turned four auction homes into art with the help of Juxtapoz Magazine and a crew of visiting artists. In total her non-profit, Power House Productions, bid on 10 houses last year, buying six for neighbors that either they did not have internet access, had not put down the required deposit by the registration deadline, or did not understand the process. So we asked Gina for the insider's view. She told Curbed Detroit.

Just because a house costs $500 doesn't make it any less of a responsibility. And know that when you buy a house for five hundred dollars, it's going to require a bit of work. Don't over-romanticize this opportunity too much, at the end of the process you're going to have a lot of work on your hands! As usual, you get what you pay for. But damn this is still so cheap!

When all was said and done, four homes on Moran Street in Detroit just north of Hamtramk formed a mini art park.

· Mitch and Gina of Powerhouse Productions and the Story Behind Juxtapoz in Detroit [Juxtapoz]
·More Ways to Pre-Shop the Wayne County Foreclosure Auction [Curbed Detroit]