Nooooooo! Not again! Yes, again. Vacant houses are the reality of today's market. Some St. Paul houses are vacant because the owners faced foreclosure and walked away. Some are vacant because the City of St. Paul pulled their occupancy permit (rental houses). Some are between tenants. Some have been vacated because sellers have already relocated to a new place and can afford to leave their old home vacant while it's on the market.
In St. Paul, though, being a vacant house can be problematic. Often foreclosed houses are vandalized, illegally occupied, or experience theft. Something so simple as a water shut-off can trigger the City's attention to a vacant building causing the home to be registered. Category 2 vacant buildings require a code compliance with the commensurate city permits to obtain a certificate of occupancy. The category 3 vacant buildings require a $5,000 bond and complete code compliance (approved by the City inspectors) before they are removed from the vacant building list and issued a certificate of occupancy.
One of those horrible Minnesota nights found me showing St. Paul houses to my clients. My reason for going out in 24 below temperatures was one house in particular. It had over 3000 square feet and was only $124,000! In our market, that is a steal. I carefully perused the listing sheet looking for any hints of reasons why the house was so cheap, but found none.
At 7:30, in the dark, we drove up to the house. My heart instantly sank as I saw the blue sign in the window. This house was on the registered vacant building list. My clients were not handy and had very little in extra funds to use on fixing up a home. We looked at the house, but after explaining the need for a city code compliance and the six month time limit for repairs, my clients lost interest. Yes, there was lots of space and to an experienced rehabber, very little in repairs, but to my clients the work was insurmountable. For this house we had ventured out when most sane people were home keeping warm by the fireplace! And they brought their infant with them!
When asked for feedback on the showing, I gave the agent a cordial "earful" letting her know she might have at least put the fact that the building was a code compliance in the agent remarks (which are not open to the public). I told her I would never have taken my clients out on that awful night if I had even a hint about the property's status with St. Paul. This property was not a match for these clients. When she called back, she had changed the listing to disclose this material fact in the agent remarks. She realized the code compliance disclosure does decrease the amount of showings, but increases the number of "qualified" buyers that actually see the house.
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