Kansas City, Missouri, does not lack for sad-looking houses. So when the city orders one of them to be demolished, you can be certain it's a real dump.
Go Invest Wisely, the subject of this week's Martin column, owns a house in the Northeast that's slated for demolition. The Utah-based company bought the Cypress Avenue house in the summer of 2008 for $6,125.
A player in the "bulk foreclosure" business, Go Invest Wisely buys homes on the cheap in the hopes of renting them or selling them to another investor. But only a bulldozer would see the potential in some of these places.
The Cypress house was a nuisance before Go Invest Wisely added it to its collection. A few weeks before Go Invest Wisely made the purchase, the city hired a contractor to board up its front door.
the city's codes enforcement supervisor, visited the house on Tuesday.
He walked up the front steps and found that someone had loosened the
screws that fasten the plywood to the door frame. The cracked entrance smelled moldy.
Parks notified Go Invest Wisely on November 9 that the city planned to demolish the Cypress house. He and Teri Nared, who also works in the city's Dangerous Buildings and Vacant Property Operations, made the visit in order to see if the demolition order had prompted any action. The broken hand rail and stray kitchen utensils in the front yard indicated that it had not.
Often a bulk buyer is located out of state. Parks says some buyers change their names and addresses, making it difficult to serve notices. "We're going to proceed, whether we get a response or not," says Parks, who is critical of companies that do not maintain properties after buying them. "They're not good neighbors."
Parks guessed that the Land Trust of Jackson County would end up with the Cypress property after the house is taken down. "It becomes another vacant lot the city ends up mowing," he says.
Showing 1-1 of 1
like
dislike
