Fewer Vacant Homes in St. Paul

Nation wide there are an estimated 19 million vacant homes.  I don’t know how many vacant homes there are in St. Paul but I do know that the number of registered vacant building has been going down since September of 2008 when we peaked at 2031 registered vacant buildings.  As of January 3, 2011 there are 1459 registered vacant buildings in St. Paul.   That is still a high number and most of the properties have multiple code violations.  Some have been vacant for years.   Details about the condition of a registered vacant house can be found on the City of St. Paul web site. 

green house

Often these properties can be had for a song, some sell for as little as 10K.  Not all of them are for sale and we can’t assume that if a home is a registered vacant building that it is for sale.  Buying these properties is an opportunity for some.  They need a lot of work and it takes a lot of money to rehab them.  They are not for cash strapped first time home buyers.   Some don’t have furnaces or working plumbing. They need roofs and water heaters and some need walls and floors. 

As a reminder it is the law in St. Paul that snow must be removed from sidewalks with in 24 hours after the snow storm ends. That applies to all properties and it doesn’t matter if they are owned by a bank or are the vacant home list.  The system is complaint driven which means someone has to call the city and complain if the walk isn’t shoveled.