(Newser)
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When Bill McMachen learned that he could buy all 650 of the tax foreclosed properties in Michigan's Macomb County just by paying the $4.8 million in back taxes, he went for it. "I got a deal nobody else could have got," he tells Fox News. The millionaire bought the properties at a county auction last week, irking many of the 300 other attendees when the sale ended in just minutes. The properties include houses, vacant lots, and even a big commercial building, the Detroit Free Press reports.
One Canadian investor was particularly perplexed, noting that his company had been willing to pay "like three to four times" what the county got from McMachen. But McMachen says he'll offer some of the properties at near-auction prices to those who missed out. "There's no hype, they will just buy it at a realistic price," he says. "And they can look inside before they pay for it, which they can't do with the county." Any he can't sell will be donated to needy organizations, according to Fox News. McMachen's purchase is the largest of its kind in county history, the Detroit News adds.
