The last time I wrote about vacant homes was in January of 2011. There were 1459 registered vacant buildings on the books in January this is way down from the all time record in the fall of 2008 which was 2031. There are vacant homes that are not on the list because the city does not require that all vacant homes be registered and there are a few cheaters out there too. . . you know who you are . .
two vacant houses in a row
Today we have 1421 registered vacant buildings. The list is on the city web site and I know they will move the page in a week or so and break my link so if you land on this article at some point in the future use Google and search on registered vacant buildings and city of St. Paul.*
Nation wide there are a large number of vacant homes I have read estimates that there may be as many as 19 million of them. [Forbes]
Some of the homes that were vacant last year have been torn down, others have been rehabbed and some are still on the market. There isn’t any way to track the homes that are vacant but not registered. If you own an empty home it is important to let your insurance company know that it is vacant.
If you live next to a vacant home keep an eye on it and alert the police if there is suspicious activity.
*the city used to have one full time employee who did nothing but move pages on the city web site now they have two. If you are not a fan of broken links on your site do not link to an item on the city of St. Paul web site.
Boy, you guys have really had your share of troubles. State shut-down, goofy weather, and now vacant homes!
I assume you mean vacant as in no one living or renting there as opposed to low vacation rental traffic.
Here is California, the vacation rental business seems to be holding its own.
Month-to-month rentals are seeing a dramatric increase in rents received over a year ago, too.
You live in a beautiful part of the world and I hope you come out of the real estate gloom soon!
They are really vacant and some are in no condition to live in. We have far fewer vacant homes than we once has and this problem is not at all unique to MN just like the bad weather is no unique to MN. Nation wide the rental market is picking up but here it isn’t dramatic it is slow and steady.
If someone wanted to acquire one of these vacant homes, how would they?
Some of them are for sale but most are not. The registered ho,es often need a lot of work. Many of the homes that are on the market are vacant. the best way to find a vacant home is to look on the MLS. You can find them through my home search. the best way to tell if they are vacant is from the photos or by driving by.