Classified as "Vacant Land" but there's a house on it

[D.J. Parten]

Hello everyone, 

I'm looking for creative ways to deal with the following scenario. There are properties for sale by the state that are listed as vacant lots. The state got these properties from tax sales many years ago. These "vacant" lots have houses on them that have been all but destroyed by fire or storms or some other tragic incident. 

It seems like these properties present an opportunity to improve the community and drive up home prices in the area if we tear the bad property down and build a new home. I have no experience with new builds and am not prepared to take on the risk. It seems like my only options here would be:

I could buy the property and immediately list it for sale. 

I could buy it, demo the building, and list it for sale. 

I could buy it and sell it off market to a local builder. 

Do you have any ideas how to make some money on these properties? Any advice on how structure a deal like this? Any idea who would want to be the end buyer of a property like this?