Why would someone do this ?

[Stephen S.]

I own a 2/1/1 that I bought and rented two years ago. When I bought it the 2/2/1 house next door was vacant. Nice shape, newer roof, and now that kids have broken in for me - I have gotten to see that it seems to need nothing. The next-door-to-mine house is still empty right now. Some kind of service company comes to look at the place (at least from the outside) and mow the grass. They either don't know or won't say who they work for / who ultimately pays their bills.

I would like to buy the next-door-to-mine house. And in tracking down the owner I have found that she owns (and pays taxes on) several other properties in the same county. She is a Real Estate agent. All of the properties are empty and not listed for rent or sale. She lives in a similar house that she rents from someone else.

My question is: Can any of you think of any reason that someone would act this way? What goal might she have?

[Robert Leonard]

@Stephen S. Just a shot in the dark, but the owner may be paying taxes and maintenance on the property during a "redemption period" and waiting until that period ends to do anything with the property? If the property was purchased at a tax sale, the owner has a period of time (can be as much as five years in some states) that they can pay the taxes and some interest to the person who paid them, and get their property back. That's just a guess, it could be any number of possibilities?