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How to determine if empty lot next door is abandoned.

Tl:dr- is there a way to find out if the city or county has determined an empty lot is abandoned. Is there a way to stay informed in case it goes up for sale.

I bought my home 4 years ago in California. Next door on one side is an empty lot. The previous owner of my home said that my lot and that lot were all one parcel at one time. The people she bought the house from decided to split them (which zoning allowed for). For 3+ years, no one did anything to or with the lot. Then, last fall there was a wildfire in the lot that cleared out a lot of loose brush and several beautiful old trees. A few of my trees along the edge of my property were damaged, otherwise we got off scot free. CalFire and the fire department took out the fence on the fire side of the property. According to heresay, CalFire and PGE are considering the property abandoned (per the tree service PG and E hired to take out one of my damaged trees).

I would love to buy the lot, as it would double the size of my lot to 3/4 of an acre. Also it is zoned for building. I could qualify for a loan to buy it if I don’t have enough cash to purchase it outright. It has no buildings on it, so I wouldn’t be competing with home buyers. I asked the agent I worked with to purchase my home for help and she was sent a letter of interest to the owners last known address, but got no response. Is there anything I can do to find out the status of the lot? With COVID and the wildfires, the owners could be dead. Their last address was in a major wildfire-adjacent area. Is there anything I can do to stay informed if the property is seized/sold.

submitted by /u/yourdelusionalsunset
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/thp5bk/how_to_determine_if_empty_lot_next_door_is/

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