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DETROIT — Once the very symbol of American industrial might, Detroit became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy Thursday, its finances ravaged and its neighbourhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.

[np_storybar title=”Cheap Detroit homes a bad deal — for investors and the community” link=”http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/03/cheap-detroit-homes-a-bad-deal-for-investors-and-the-community/”]DETROIT — The solid red brick house on a block of similar homes in Northwest Detroit sounds like a steal at $3,728.

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But in many ways, it’s a lemon.

The house, sold at an auction last fall, sits at the edge of Detroit’s infamous urban blight. And scrap thieves, or “strippers,” have taken anything of value, including the kitchen sink and metal pipes, requiring repairs of up to $15,000. Continue reading.

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The filing, which had been feared for months, put the city on an uncertain course that could mean laying off municipal employees, selling off assets, raising fees and scaling back basic services such as trash collection and snow plowing, which have already been slashed.