Sell a Fire Damaged House in Heritage Hill, Eastown or Fairmount Square

The District Saved the Neighbourhood

Worth starting here because owners in the middle of a fire file can experience designation purely as an obstacle. Whole blocks of Heritage Hill were once slated for demolition under urban renewal.

They were not demolished, and property values in the district rose 1200 per cent between 1974 and 2002. Studies across Michigan and other states comparing designated districts with comparable undesignated areas consistently find values do not decrease and typically increase. The framework is on our page covering the certificate and the neglect.

Does That Help Me Right Now?

It affects the arithmetic more than it affects the process. A repaired house here is worth a great deal, which means the cost of repair is a smaller proportion of the finished value, which means repairing frequently beats selling by a wide margin. The process is real and the asset behind it is strong, and owners who only see the first half sometimes sell property they should have kept.

Every Elevation Is In Scope

The commission reviews any work to the exterior and does not distinguish as to the location of the work. On the large houses characteristic of this district that is a bigger surface than owners expect: side elevations, rear additions, porches, roof planes and chimneys are all reviewable.

Planning a fire repair around what is visible from the street is the commonest way a scope has to be redone here.

What About Materials?

Alteration is defined as work that changes the detail of a resource without changing its basic size or shape, so profiles, dimensions and materials are within scope even where the shape of the building is unchanged. The design review standards run to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation at 36 C.F.R. part 67, which favour retaining and repairing historic material over replacing it. That is worth knowing before a contractor prices a strip-and-replace scope.

We publish no district boundaries, commission determinations or values for individual Heritage Hill properties. The city and its commission hold the first two and local sale evidence the third.

The Framing Usually Supports Repair

Timber of this era is oversized by modern standards and chars on the surface rather than failing at connections. Members can frequently be assessed, cleaned back and retained with damaged sections replaced individually.

That aligns with what the rehabilitation standards prefer, so an engineer's report saying the structure can be kept is doing two jobs: it lowers the cost of the repair and it supports the approach the commission is most likely to approve.

Secure It Before Winter

Large houses with a lot of roof are efficient at admitting water once damaged, and freeze and thaw across a Michigan winter does to charred timber what the fire started. Ask the commission's staff whether securing falls within a delegated minor class of work, then do it.

Heritage Hill in Context

Where the district picture is patchier, see our page about the West Side and Garfield Park. Where designation is a local choice each municipality has made differently, see our page for the Kent County suburbs.

The Sections Behind a Heritage Hill File

The Local Historic Districts Act is Act 169 of 1970, at MCL 399.201 and following. Section 399.205(1) requires a permit before any exterior work; section 399.201a defines the terms; section 399.205(10) allows delegation of minor classes of work.

Design review runs to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards at 36 C.F.R. part 67, and appeals lie to the State Historic Preservation Review Board under the Administrative Procedures Act, MCL 24.201 and following.

Heritage Hill Questions

Can I Repair the Back of the House Without Review?

No. The Act reaches any exterior work regardless of which elevation it is on.

Should I Repair or Sell?

On this stock at these values, repairing frequently wins by a wide margin. Get the finished value from somebody who is not buying.

Will You Buy in Heritage Hill?

Yes, and we expect to lose most of these files to owners and rehabbers, which is the right outcome.

Sell a Fire Damaged House in Heritage Hill and Eastown