Abandoned, Deteriorating Homes … Just Let Them Burn?

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Foreclosures left abandoned for weeks, months, or years at a time can take a big toll on nearby home values. In the end, everyone in a neighborhood can feel the fallout.

Can some of these foreclosures be saved? Investors in recent weeks are certainly snapping up foreclosures in bulk and turning them into profitable rentals. But what about some of the foreclosures left lingering … the ones that no one seems to want?

A Morgan Stanley’s analyst recently estimated that nearly 95 percent of distressed homes are in such bad shape and not even suitable for renting.

In Detroit, which has been plagued by foreclosed homes the last few years, firefighters there are proposing a controversial new plan: Let the homes burn.