Land Bank Hosts Open Houses this Weekend

This weekend, The Detroit Land Bank hosts open houses in 20 of the properties available in the next auction. Prospective buyers—and those who are simply buy-curious—can check out dates and times for open houses by visiting the Land Bank's website. Two of the featured homes are part of the Quicken Loans/Home Depot Rehabbed and Ready program that completely remodels Land Bank houses before they're auctioned. The two remodeled houses up for auction next week are located in Crary-St. Mary's, and one even sits on a corner lot. For these houses, the website has an RSVP function, so be sure to take care of that bit of business in advance.

We checked out the available houses and picked a few to share with Curbed readers. Two are rehabbed, and one is just begging to be.

1. 16588 Prevost

This tiny house is a bit of a disappointment. The kitchen is minuscule, and the design on the remodel doesn't do potential homeowners any favors. The counter looks to be about a foot wide, roughly the length of the paper towel roll on the counter in the photographs. The carpeting in the living room makes the house look smaller, and the massive, dark fireplace is just, well, ugly. The new 1-car garage is a nice touch, but it 100% does not have "siding and roof that match the home," per the listing copy. The house is brick, for one thing. It's a new garage with what looks like white vinyl siding. The house does have all-new mechanicals, but with a starting bid of $49.9K, we're wondering if the program's reach is exceeding its grasp a little bit with this one.

2. 16803 Murray Hill

Built in 1939, this tiny Tudor has a tiny turret, and is cute as hell, to use fancy real estate terminology. The kitchen has granite counters, the home's mechanicals are brand new, and the wood floors in the downstairs bedrooms have been refinished. We don't quite buy the tiny loft as a true third bedroom, because, well, it's miniscule. Of course, it does have "fresh, warm carpeting," per the listing copy. Uh…we'll just back slowly away from that bizarre description. There's a back porch, which seems anything but "spacious," despite the listing copy. Though the ad is a little odd, the house is a little gem, and has a ton of character and potential (the stonework surrounding the windows is totes adorbs, for one thing). With an opening bid of $48.8K, the price should also be just about right.

3. 14501 Rossini

Located in the Mohican Regent neighborhood, this brick house has lovely stone facing surrounding its doors and windows, a gorgeous original fireplace, and untouched original tile in the bathroom. Built in 1939, the 3-bedroom, 1-bath house needs a full overhaul—it is neither rehabbed, nor ready for anything except sledgehammers, TLC, and a buyer capable of restoring the house to its former glory. There's a detached garage that looks like it's probably a tear-down, but the house also has a large backyard, and the street looks good, with other homes in decent shape and well-tended. This one goes up for auction on October 11 with the Land Bank's more usual $1000 starting bid. Its open house is Sunday from 1-5, no RSVP required.

·Quicken Loans, Home Depot Partner with Land Bank to Renovate Auction Homes [Curbed Detroit]
·16803 Murray Hill [Detroit Land Bank Authority]
·16588 Prevost [Detroit Land Bank Authority]
·4501 Rossini [Detroit Land Bank Authority]