New Orleans auctioning off vacant land online

New Orleans

NEW Orleans is selling almost 1,800 properties on the Web to fatten its tax coffers and build on the momentum it's enjoying in the local real estate market.

The question is, who's going to show up for the online auction, and what are they going to do with the lots they buy?

On Friday, the city posted a list of 1,786 properties - 90 per cent of them vacant lots - that it plans to sell in the auction. Bidding on the properties, of which the city took control after the owners failed to pay property taxes, will start at US$3,000 in most cases, plus the cost of trying to track down the most recent owner.

In many cases, bargain hunters can scope out the lots using Google Street View. If they like what they see, they can put up US$650 to cover the costs of locating and notifying the current owner, a process the city says will take…