I have been following this for a few years now and you won’t find many if any articles about vacant houses in St. Paul. There is a registered vacant building list that the city has and most of the buildings on the list are homes. Not all vacant buildings have to be registered so we don’t really know how many vacant homes or buildings there are in the city but it seems like there are still too many. Many of the homes on the market are vacant and they do not show up on any list.
In January of 2008 we had 2031 registered vacant buildings in the city. Each month since then the number has gone down. There are 1422 registered vacant buildings on the list right now but the number has stopped going down in the last few months and some months it goes up but a house or two.
Nation wide at one point there were 19 million vacant houses. The most recent article I could find on the subject indicates that there are 14.3 million vacant homes. No one likes to live next door to a vacant house. A high vacancy rate is not good for any neighborhood.
If your St. Paul home is vacant don’t forget to let your insurance company know. Winterize your home before October 15th and be kind to your neighbors. Have the gas turned off and keep the walks cleared in the winter.
You must register your vacant home with the city if it meets the following criteria:
You must register this building with St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections, Vacant/Nuisance
Buildings Code Enforcement Unit if the building is unoccupied and:
1. Unsecured, or
2. Secured by other than normal means (boarded), or
3. A dangerous structure, or
4. Condemned as uninhabitable, or
5. Condemned or Vacated by Fire Marshal Certificate of Occupancy Program, or
6. Has multiple housing or Building Code violations, or
7. Is condemned and illegally occupied, or
8. Has been unoccupied for a period of time longer than one year during which time the
Enforcement Officer has issued an order to correct nuisance conditions.
For more information visit the St. Paul City web site.
Theresa, are those two houses connected? If it is, it has to be an addition.
No they are not connected just close together
Must be the angle of the camera, doesnt even look like you could walk through them.
the tan one is actually set back. an optical illusion
Great article Teresa. We have quite a few vacant homes here in Phoenix also. The other problem we see are a number of neighborhoods where you will have one or two homes built and then nothing but vacant dirt lots due to the builder going bankrupt. Terrible for the people who purchased the homes that got completed.
we have unfinished developments here to but not in the city
Anyone interested in buying a not so vacant vacant home? I own a home which has been condemned ( i think illegally ) and is a registered vacant property . a code compliance inspection has been done a general permit has been pulled and we have spent the sumer doing the work to bring the property up to code. the original reason for ordering the notice to vacate ws because our water service had been turned off of a week. the inspection was insult to injury it was obvious that they were really having to work to dig up violations . so although the repairs needed were fairly minor there was enough of them that the cost to do the work as well as the cost of finding and paying for a new place to live not to mention the mountain of city fees we have had to pay has made it difficult and progress has been slow. i would say 90 percent of the work needed has been done i still have to have the boiler vent inspected and pull a permit to replace some fittings on the water heater. I’m in the middle of tilling the bathroom now. so thats where the house is at now . i have run out of my resources (time and money) . the vacant homes inspector showed up this morning and told me he suspected that people are staying here and gave me one day to clear all my things out before he boards the place up. i can’t go on . my mortgage is current my power is on although its under the cold weather rule. the waster is on and trash service is paid up but when they board it up I’m done. i can’t say for sure what i owe on the house but i will find out so if anybody interested in buying a vacant home this might be a good one to look at .