In most cities in the US, 1 USD cannot buy a cup of coffee. However, St. Louis ( Mis Mis Mis Mis) is implementing a program to sell vacant houses for 1 USD, as long as the buyer commits to repairing them.
To buy a house at this price, people also have to check the current status and sketch the renovation budget table. In addition, they also have to pay some other fees. Specifically, the application fee is 25 USD, the insurance fee is 250 USD.
Buyers are also required to attend a fee-paying class, instructed on what to know when owning a house. The total cost was about $400, before they spent the money to repair the house.
In fact, St. Petersburg's one-dollar home sale program Louis is similar to the program in Buffalo (New York) or Gary ( indiana). Buyers must commit to owning a house for at least 3 years to prevent the situation of buying to invest and transfer for profit.
However, at St. Louis is most notable because instead of just selling a few individual houses like elsewhere, the city applies a price of one USD for 500 houses. Currently, there are about 12,000 vacant properties here, including land plots and houses.
Like many other industrial cities, St. Petersburg Louis was hit hard by a shortage of manufacturing and a collapse in the US auto industry. Although the city's economy shows signs of recovery, there are still significant numbers of abandoned houses built over the decades that cannot be completely destroyed.
The houses priced at 1 USD all have an area of less than 140m2 and have not had buyers for 5 years or more. Most of them are in need of significant repairs. The electricity and water systems need to be replaced.
Many houses had broken windows, leaky roofs and peeling walls. Buyers have 120 days to repair the exterior of the house in accordance with the city's regulations and have 18 months to renovate the entire house. If they do not meet the requirements, they must return the house to the city.
