I’m considering getting in to the South Fairmount speculative vacant lot market once the Lick Run project is done. It’d be great to find a good developer for the land that can build something incredible, or maybe develop it myself someday into a great modern townhouse.

 

Do you guys know the rules on owning vacant land in Cincinnati city limits?

 

Is it OK to leave it grow or does it have to be mowed frequently?

 

How often does trash have to be picked up?

 

What options do I have if homeless move on to the land, or will the city care?

 

Are there things I should know to be a good vacant landowner?

On ‎9‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 7:09 PM, SWOH said:

Is it OK to leave it grow or does it have to be mowed frequently?

 

Obviously if you buy 10 lots for $2,000 apiece you're going to also need to go and cut them yourself or hire someone to do it.  

 

If you buy just one lot you might be able to get away with letting it turn back into woods depending on if it's already next to woods.  If it's just one missing tooth between a row of houses then you're going to need to mow it.  

 

There is something called "weed court" where you can argue that you have been maintaining your land if someone (the city or otherwise) files a complaint.  Somebody told me he beat his accuser when he pointed out that the ruler he used was not approved by Dusty Rhodes.  

 

 

 

 

When I was a student at UC and lived in Clifton Heights, we had to mow our grass weekly and if we failed to do so for even 1 week, we would get ticketed by the city. I'm not sure if they just picked on Clifton Heights because it was an easy way to make money from students and/or bad landlords, or if they are this strict across the whole city. But I wouldn't chance it, I would keep it mowed.

If you are buying fill in lots that are vacant you must keep it mowed. If you are buying lots that have never been developed previously with woods on them, they do not need to be mowed, but do need to be kept clean so they don't interfere with the street. The character of your lot will determine this.

 

There is a form you can fill out with city hall to let them know you are not an absentee landlord. Therefore, if someone dumps a couch on your property the city can call you or someone can call you and you can move it in a reasonable time frame so you don't get fined. IF they do not have this, and you act as an absentee landlord, they will just fine upon the site of that stuff.

It is sort of like a good landlord program. Theory behind it is that someone dumps their trash on your yard and you don't find out about it for a week or so, and the trash does not come for another week, you don't get fined for this.

Also, some vacant lots have active water hookups whereas others do not.  An active hookup means $100~ year paid to the Waterworks.  However, getting water to a lot with an inactive hookup costs over $5,000.  So it's wise to keep the hookup if you plan to build anytime soon.  

 

The property taxes on any vacant 25x100 lot should be very low.  Like a $50 bill every six months.  

 

But all put together, between the property tax, water bill, and mowing, the holding cost of a single lot might be $500/year, and likely much more if you consider the opportunity cost versus putting the money in securities or a CD or whatever.  

 

That's why it's important to pay almost nothing for a lot.  In South Fairmount, I wouldn't pay more than $2,000 for a lot and hopefully much less.  The lots sit on the market for 6+ months, usually.