All Forum Posts by: Tiffani Baggett

Are these properties not getting citations? I would imagine if they are owned by investors, they would at least be doing enough to not get citations. If they are dilapidated, aren't those typically abandoned homes where the owner is missing or a foreclosure that just keeps sitting? Same for a  burned home. Why would an owner want to just let their burned home sit there without repair unless they're letting the city/county/bank/whoever take it back (and therefore abandoned it).

I would say conditions such as disrepair to the point these properties sound uninhabitable sounds more like a bigger problem than lazy out of state investors. It kind of sounds like the properties are not in demand or it's generally not the best area to invest.

@Tiffani Baggett Don't you have a code enforcement department out there?  Can't you report the properties?  Doesn't some kind of neighborhood improvement group exist in your local government?  From what you're saying it sounds like your local government abandoned this neighborhood long before the out-of-state property owners did.    

On the practical side, you are in a little bit of a catch-22.  After reading this you've convinced me *not* to invest in eastern Birmingham.  Evidently the city doesn't care that it's populated with burned out homes.  That's the last place I'd put my money.  I am surprised that wholesalers haven't tried to flood the absentee owners with yellow letters.  I can't imagine that someone in San Diego would enjoy owning a pile of ashes in eastern Birmingham they can't rent.

Still, I'd start with your local government and why they abandoned the neighborhood.