The District of Lucerne presents a portal with unused properties for sale

The Lucerne County GIS/Mapping Department has introduced a new online database for viewing locations and descriptions of unused county properties available for purchase.

The database is available on the council’s Real Estate Committee page at luzernecounty.org.

County GIS Director Dan Reese and GIS Senior Analyst Patrick Xing showcased the new feature at a County Council Real Estate Committee meeting last week, saying it was created to help attract potential buyers and get more properties back on the tax rolls.

The county has occasionally released reports listing available properties in the past, but this is the first attempt to sell it publicly. The new database is a “visual platform” that allows citizens to view information and see if there is anything of interest, Cine told the committee.

In addition to maps of each available lot, the database lists appraisals, acres, and property identification numbers. It includes the ability to scroll through all properties, enter a specific municipality, or zoom in and out on a county map to see if there are any properties in areas of interest.

A simple user manual is included with the database.

The database currently covers 102 properties for which there are documents.

About 70 more unused properties have been identified for sale, but additional steps may be required before they are added to the database because they are missing documents, Sin and Reese say.

County ownership of some lots dates back to the 1920s, officials say. Some of these relate to the past practice of the county taking ownership of property that was not auctioned off tax-deductible. Today, the county keeps unsold, unpaid property in a separate pool under the name of the defaulting owners.

Because some of the 102 properties in the database are smaller lots that may only be attractive to owners of neighboring lots, the County sent out letters to neighbors last November informing them that the properties were up for sale and would soon be available. published.

Letters sent by previous county superintendent Randy Robertson told nearby property owners that the county would “actively promote” county properties available for sale if they were interested in submitting an offer.

Last week, the real estate committee discussed five proposed purchases – at least four of them were prompted by the November letters.

All five proposals were submitted last month for parcels with no structures.

Purchase offers

As required by state law, the county must not transfer any property for less than fair market value, in accordance with the county’s property purchase policy posted in the real estate committee section.

Fair market value is defined as the most probable cash price that a property would fetch in an open and competitive market in a market transaction, where the buyer and seller act prudently and competently and assume that the price is “not subject to improper incentives” . policy indicates.

The County Council must approve all property sales, and the County reserves the right to negotiate the sale price with any potential buyer, the report said.

Potential buyers must publicly advertise the proposed purchase at their own expense before deals can be completed, the report said.

A closed bidding process is required if more than one bid for a particular property is received. A public auction is required if there are multiple matching bids.

A summary of the five pending offers, based on information released by the real estate committee:

• $750 for a 0.104 acre lot in Dallas Township that is undeveloped and has no sewer or running water.

The property is valued at $20,000, although members of the estate committee have previously stressed that the appraised value may be too high, largely because the county, as a tax-exempt entity, has not filed appraisal appeals challenging those values.

• $500 each – $1,000 total – for two adjacent lots on Pearson Street in the City of Hanover. Each parcel of about 0.15 acres is valued at $10,000.

• $500 each – $1,000 total – for two non-adjacent lots, also on Pearson Street in Hanover Township. Each lot is valued at $10,000. One facing Pearson Street is 0.127 acres and the second landlocked at the back of the other lot is 0.083 acres.

• $2,500 for a lot in the Alden Mountain Road area of ​​Slocum Township.

Although the lot is considered to be one lot, it is made up of 12 different shaped lots in seven different areas that do not touch each other. Some of them are in clusters while others are stand-alone. Collectively, the “lot” is 5,416 acres and is valued at $46,900.

Real estate committee chairman LeAnn McDermott said it was an old division that had failed.

• As a public agency, the Pittston City Redevelopment Authority offered $1 for a 0.123-acre lot in the Pittston Hospital complex.

This lot is valued at $53,600.

According to a letter from administration executive Joseph Chuck to the council, the county-owned site is completely surrounded by property acquired in August 2021 by the government’s nonprofit Greater Pittston Land Revitalization Corp.

“This area has no sewers or other utilities and has been an empty, unserved lot for as long as anyone can remember,” he wrote of the county-owned land.

Chake said the authorities and the city are working on a plan to provide sewer services to the area and develop the area for residential buildings.

The Real Estate Committee voted to forward four purchase proposals to the full council for consideration at an upcoming business meeting.

The $1,000 offer for two adjacent lots on Pearson Street in Hanover Township will remain with the committee for now, as committee vice chairman Kevin Leskevage said adjacent lots could cost more. The combined lots are about 50 feet wide, which could be enough to accommodate a residential development, Leskavage said, noting that he has visited the site and seen beautiful houses.

Even though the 102 properties in the new database appear to be for real estate purposes with a document book and reference page, the county will transfer its interest in properties through waivers instead of traditional documents, Cine said. which come with guarantees. This approach is necessary, he said, because the county will not take any responsibility for future problems buyers may encounter in obtaining clean title deeds.

Title searches must be conducted and funded by potential buyers in accordance with County policy.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.