About a dozen people showed up Tuesday morning at the Government Center in Elk River for Sherburne County’s annual tax-forfeited land auction.
Those numbers were way down from last year when more than 30 people attended.
“I was expecting more,” said Sherburne County Auditor/Treasurer Diane Arnold. “I thought we really had some more interest because I had quite a few phone calls. But you don’t know with an auction if people are going to show up or not.”
There were 72 parcels on the auction list Tuesday, not nearly as many as last year or two years ago, when more than 175 went up for bid.
Last year, 36 lots sold for a total of $339,800. But this year was different, with only two lots, both in Orrock Twp., selling to the highest bidders.
One lot started at $11,700 and eventually sold for $19,500 to a couple from Monticello.
Orrock Twp. property owner Greg Smith, who owns the adjacent 40 acre-property, was hoping to get that parcel, but stopped bidding at $19,000.
“This is a nice high, dry five acres at the end of a cul de sac. I would basically just use it as a base camp to build some access into my 40 acres,” he said. “But that’s a couple thousand more than I wanted to pay for it.”
It was the same result for Bob and Nancy Kjellberg of Orrock Twp., who wanted to buy the adjacent lot next to their home in Palomino Acres. The opening bid was $15,600. It sold for $33,500, which was more than they were willing to pay.
“Our lot is in the shape of an “L”. This would have gone up to the road right behind it,” said Bob.
“We thought we could get it for no more than $18,000 or $19,000,” said Nancy.
“If you’re going to build on it, that’s great,” said Bob. “But we just wanted it as a future investment.”
Those were the only two lots of the 72 that anyone bid on Tuesday. No one showed any interest in the 35 lots in the Wright’s Crossing development in the City of Big Lake or the three multiple-parcel lots near Birch Lake Beach.
No one bid on any of the townhome lots in the River Oaks development in Becker, or the 37 lots in the Whispering Ridge development in Livonia Twp.
Arnold said it’s not unusual for people to show up at the auction and just see what different lots sold for.
“I think they’re just taking a “wait and see” approach,” she said.
A few auction attendees approached Arnold after the auction and asked about the process. She explained that anything that didn’t sell would go back on the list on the county website where they could be purchased at the minimum price without competitive bidding.
“That happens. People ask about it then they come back months later and buy it,” she said. “We’ll update the list as soon as we get all our paperwork taken care of.”
