2W // Real Estate & Home Builders Guide // December 2017
Getting rid of lot in depressed
area proves to be a real challenge
By Ilyce Glink
and Samuel J. Tamkin
Tribune Content Agency
Q
: Six years ago, I inherited a vacant
lot from my dad when he died.
My dad purchased this lot in 1963.
However, he never did anything with it.
The lot is located in an unsightly area in
my hometown.
When my dad purchased the lot from
a friend of his, homes were being built
in this community. More than 50 years
later, no one is buying or building in the
community.
I don’t plan to do anything with the
lot. People are constantly dumping
things on the property that I am then
responsible for cleaning up or getting
rid of, otherwise I get fined by the city.
I’ve been trying to sell this lot on and
off for the past six years I’ve owned it.
At one point, I had the property on the
market for two-and-a-half years straight
without even a nibble. I even tried
selling by owner for six months.
After receiving the most recent letter
from the city about dumping on the
lot, I’m determined to get this lot off
my hands. At this point, I feel like my
only option is to just stop paying the
property taxes on the lot and let the city
confiscate and deal with it. However,
since the property taxes on the lot are
not that high (I only pay $50 per year),
I’m thinking that it will be awhile
before the county actually gets around
to doing anything about it. Plus, I’m
sure they don’t want that lot any more
than I do.
I thought about trying to contact
adjoining property owners to see if
they might be interested in the lot
but in looking up the owners of these
properties, most of them seem to be
in the same boat I’m in. Other owners
appear to be landlords. Many of the
surrounding properties are vacant lots
just like mine.
I’ve also thought of trying to donate
it to a church that is in the community
but, seeing that it really is not near
the church, I can’t see them actually
wanting it.
I’m at a loss for what to do with this
THINKSTOCK IMAGE
property and really need someone else’s
opinion and insight into what I should
do with it.
: You’re in a tough situation. When
an area gets depressed, undeveloped
land can be hard to maintain. As you
perceived, other property owners in the
area with buildings appear to rent out
their properties, and there isn’t much
that you can do with your property.
At this point the property is more of a
liability than an asset.
You’re on the right track in trying
to find a willing buyer for the property.
You might want to see if your city has
a program for vacant lots. Some cities
try to work with vacant lot owners to
get something built on those lots. If
the city has a plan, you might be able
to participate in the plan. Even if you
donate the lot to the city, it may be
better for you than holding onto the
A
property and having to clean it up to
meet city ordinances.
There are also charities that try to
build in areas with a lot of vacant land.
Those charities typically have a goal
of keeping communities together. A
charity like Habitat for Humanity might
be worth a call to see if they would be
interested in you donating your lot to
the cause.
You might try to call a meeting of all
the vacant land owners in that neigh-
borhood and see if you can find a home
builder that might be willing to build
homes or an apartment building on all
of those lots. There are news reports
that indicate the some home builders
are finding it hard to find land to put up
homes. Some of these same builders are
looking closer to cities and downtowns
to develop.
Finally, if you fail to make your real
estate tax payments, it could be years
before a tax buyer ends up with your
property. In the meantime, as the owner
of the property, you might still have to
pay for the cost of cleaning the lot and
the fines that may come with the issues
you are facing.
We don’t have a magic wand that can
produce a sale. Assuming you priced
the property correctly (and, since you’ve
offered to give it away for free, we
assume you’re aware of how little value
it actually has), you’ve tried all of the
normal ways to dispose of an unwanted
parcel.
Other than going big (by getting
your neighborhood organized so that
you can entice your city to help you
find a builder), we don’t have any other
suggestions for you. But if we get any
letters with other suggestions, we’ll be
happy to publish them here.