Luzerne County unveils portal containing unused property for sale

Luzerne County’s GIS/Mapping department has unveiled a new online database to view the locations and descriptions of unused county-owned properties available for purchase.

The database is available under council’s Real Estate Committee page at luzernecounty.org.

County GIS Director Dan Reese and Senior GIS Analyst Patrick Sine showcased the new feature during last week’s county council Real Estate Committee meeting, saying it was created to help attract potential buyers and return more properties to the tax rolls.

The county had sporadically released reports listing available properties in the past, but this is the first effort to publicly market them. The new database provides a “visual platform” for citizens to browse and see if there is anything of interest, Sine told the committee.

In addition to maps of each available parcel, the database lists the assessed values, acreage and property identification numbers. It includes an option to scroll through all properties, type in a specific municipality or zoom in and out on a countywide map to see if there are any properties available in areas of interest.

A simple user guide is posted with the database.

The database currently covers 102 properties that have deeds.

Another approximately 70 unused properties have been identified for sale, but further steps may be required before they are added to the database because they are missing deeds, Sine and Reese said.

County ownership of some parcels dates back to the 1920s, officials have said. Some stem from a past practice in which the county assumed ownership of properties that did not sell at back-tax auctions. Today, the county keeps unsold tax-delinquent properties in a separate pool under the name of the owners who defaulted.

Because some of the 102 county-owned properties in the database are smaller lots that may only be attractive to adjacent property owners, the county sent letters last November to neighbors informing them the properties are for sale and would soon be publicly listed.

Sent by prior county manager Randy Robertson, the letters to surrounding property owners said the county will be “strongly marketing” county-held properties available for sale if they were interested in submitting an offer.

The real estate committee discussed five proposed purchases last week — at least four prompted by the November letters.

All five offers were submitted last month for parcels without structures.

Purchase offers

As required by state law, the county is not supposed to convey any property for less than fair market value, according to the county property purchase policy posted under the real estate committee section.

Fair market value is defined as the most probable monetary price a property would bring in an open and competitive market through an arm’s length transaction, with the buyer and seller each acting prudently and knowledgeably and assuming the price is “not affected by undue stimulus,” the policy indicates.

County council must approve all real estate sales, and the county reserves the right to negotiate the sales price with any prospective purchaser, it says.

Prospective buyers must publicly advertise the proposed purchase, at their own expense, before transactions may be finalized, it says.

A sealed bid process is required if more than one offer is received for a specific property. A public auction is necessary if there are multiple matching bids.

A synopsis of the five pending offers based on information released by the real estate committee:

• $750 for a 0.104-acre lot in Dallas Township that is not buildable and has no sewer or water connection.

The property is assessed at $20,000, although real estate committee members have previously emphasized the assessed values may be skewed too high, largely because the county, as a tax-exempt entity, did not file assessment appeals challenging the values.

• $500 each — $1,000 total — for two connecting parcels on Pearson Street in Hanover Township. Each lot is approximately 0.15 acres and assessed at $10,000.

• $500 each — $1,000 total — for two parcels that are not adjacent, also on Pearson Street in Hanover Township. Each lot is assessed at $10,000. The one fronting Pearson Street is 0.127 acre, while the second at the landlocked rear of another parcel is 0.083 acre.

• $2,500 for a parcel in the area of Alden Mountain Road in Slocum Township.

Although the property is considered one parcel it contains 12 lots of varying shapes in seven distinct areas not touching each other. Some are in clusters, while others are standalone. Collectively, the “parcel” is 5.416 acres and assessed at $46,900.

Real Estate Committee Chairwoman LeeAnn McDermott said the site was an old subdivision that failed.

• As a government entity, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Pittston offered $1 for a 0.123-acre lot at the Pittston Hospital complex.

This lot is assessed at $53,600.

According to a letter to council from authority Executive Director Joseph Chacke, the county-owned lot is completely surrounded by property purchased in August 2021 by the authority’s nonprofit arm, the Greater Pittston Land Revitalization Corp.

“This area does not have sewer or other utilities and has been a vacant, unmaintained lot for as long as anyone can remember,” he wrote in reference to the county-owned parcel.

The authority and city are working on a plan to provide sewer service to this area and develop the site for residential homes, Chacke said.

The real estate committee voted to forward four purchase offers to the full council for its consideration at an upcoming work session.

The $1,000 offer for the two connecting parcels on Pearson Street in Hanover Township will remain with the committee for now because committee Vice Chairman Kevin Lescavage said the side-by-side lots, together, may be worth more. The combined lots are approximately 50 feet wide, which may be enough to hold a residential structure, Lescavage said, noting he visited the site and observed nice homes.

Even though the 102 properties in the new database appear to be titled for real estate purposes with a deed book and reference page, the county will transfer its interest in properties through quit-claim deeds instead of traditional deeds that come with warranties, Sine said. This approach is necessary because the county won’t accept any responsibility for future problems buyers may encounter obtaining clean property titles, he said.

Title searches must be performed and funded by prospective buyers under the county policy.