Anyone looking for a good deal in Schoharie County real estate can find it October 3.
That’s the date for the auction of foreclosed county-owned properties––more than 50 of them.
Usually held in May, the auction was postponed five months because of COVID concerns.
Those concerns also drastically changed the location and the format. Instead of Schoharie, the auction will start at 9am in Progressland at the Cobleskill Fairgrounds.
Also, bidders must pre-register by mail by September 21, indicate the parcels they intend to bid on and send a copy of a driver’s license or photo ID, among other requirements. There will be no registration on the day of the auction.
Bidders must wear masks and practice social distancing.
Past auctions in Schoharie usually had several hundred people crowded in and around a tent in front of the courthouse.
This year, only 50 or fewer will be permitted in Progressland because of virus concerns, hence the need to indicate which parcels people will bid on.
“If you’re going to bid on parcel, say, number 32, you don’t have to get there at 9am,” said County Treasurer MaryAnn Wollaber-Bryan, adding that her office will probably try to notify bidders of when to show up.
And there’s plenty to show up for.
One of the top properties, Ms. Wollaber-Bryan said, is an improved home on 49 acres on Route 20 in Carlisle.
“It’s beautiful. . .a really nice property,” she said.
The minimum bid for the parcel is $250,000.
Another is a 67-acre, mostly wooded parcel, also in Carlisle on Evergreen Road.
One more is a 79.6-acre parcel subdivided into 14 lots on a private road in Jefferson. Ms. Wollaber-Bryan expected the property to fetch $100,000.
Among the rest: two two-family homes in Schoharie, a three-family home on Park Place in Cobleskill, a former gas station on Route 20 in Sharon Springs, a single-family home in Summit with views of Summit Lake, the former Chapman House in Blenheim and a single-family home on Beckers Corners Road in Carlisle.
Ms. Wollaber-Bryan said the delinquent taxes on all properties total $713,000, and her office is estimating the auction to take in $1 million.
“Even with all the limitations, we’re excited to have this auction,” she said.