St Louis Real Estate

[Luyanda Koboka]

Dear St. Louis Investors

I was looking at some investment properties in St Louis and came across LRA properties on the government site.
Exactly what are these properties? Why are there so many? And are investors investing in these and if so what is the strategy for these?

I am a newbie, please pardon my ignorance. and Thanks in advance for answering my questions!

[Peter MacKercher]

The LRA has property that no one wants. It cheap to buy expensive to repair an normally in bad neighborhoods. LRA takes property that did not sell at the tax auction and has thousands of broken buildings and empty lots. It is my understanding If you buy from the LRA you have to provide a plan including financials on how you will rehab the property. You have one year from purchase to rehab the property and get a clean occupancy. 

"LRA became the city’s biggest owner of abandoned property because of forces unleashed in the 1960s, as people and businesses left for the suburbs — and unpaid real-estate taxes piled up in the city. State law at the time required the city to file suit against each individual parcel of tax-delinquent land in order to attempt to collect revenue — an unfeasible task.

City Hall at the time decided St. Louis needed a state law that would allow it to hold, maintain and eventually sell vacant property with a clear title for redevelopment, in hopes of revitalizing decaying neighborhoods. In 1971, the LRA — the nation’s first city-run land bank — was born."