States Hope Foreclosure Properties Will Sell
While real estate speculators were demonized during the buying frenzy that was the US housing bubble for driving home prices to stratospheric levels in Florida, now they are desperately needed because there are so many vacant and foreclosure properties in the state and ordinary home buyers are having trouble obtaining credit.
A Milwaukee, Wisconsin ordinance that would allow investors to buy single-family homes and small rental properties obtained by the city through property tax foreclosures was recently approved unanimously by the Common Council's Zoning and Neighborhoods and Development Committee. This is an acknowledgment by the city that investors are needed to help get foreclosed properties sold, occupied and back on the tax rolls. It will be interesting to see if more cities and states follow suit and pass similar changes to housing regulations.