Macomb County Treasurer Ted Wahby said he did his job and collected the taxes. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -
Hundreds showed up to save big trying to buy foreclosed homes at a Macomb County auction. Now they're upset because a company bought all the houses for the minimum bid before anybody else had a chance.
Just like at any auction, these investors expected the real estate to sell for way more than the minimum bid, and they believe Macomb County could've made a lot more money if they hadn't offered a package deal.
"The price we were willing to pay is like three to four times what they're asking," said a Canadian investor.
He showed up to the Macomb County tax sale Tuesday ready to spend more than $500,000, but he didn't spend a penny of it.
"I feel bad that it went that way," he said.
Nearly 300 people showed up to the auction, but this investor said right at the start of it, Macomb County officials made an announcement he was not expecting. All 650 properties could be bought together for the price of the delinquent taxes, which adds up to $4 million.
Of course, most of the investors didn't have that kind of cash, but one did and he bought each and every property. Investors didn't even have a chance to bid.
"If we knew it was going to happen like this, we wouldn't even have spent any time," said the investor. "They could've made more money, I mean triple the money they made."
"Not true," said Macomb County Treasurer Ted Wahby.
He said while there are some gems in the bunch, there were also a lot of properties that average investors might not even touch, which means the county would be stuck with them and communities could be left holding the bag.
"By packaging the good with the bad, it's in the center for somebody to come in and buy it all," Wahby said.
While some investors might be upset, Wahby said he doesn't work for them.
"People who are going to buy five or ten houses weren't buying them because they wanted to move in," Wahby explained. "They wanted to make money on them, and God bless them, I wish they could have, but that's not my mission. I have a job to do. I have to collect the taxes, and that's what we did."
The treasurer said the tax sale doesn't typically yield a profit. If anything, they're left with property no one seems to want and unpaid taxes, but this year 100 percent of the properties sold, which he said is good for everybody.
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Macomb County Treasurer Ted Wahby said he did his job and collected the taxes. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
