Six abandoned, city-owned fixer-upper homes and vacant land parcels were auctioned off during a live public auction Wednesday at City Hall, netting Haverhill $780,000, Mayor James J. Fiorentini’s office tells WHAV. Conducted by Shrewsbury’s Zekos Group Auctioneers, the properties auctioned were previously acquired through the tax-title process in the city’s effort to rehabilitate and improve neighborhoods.
Ninety-four people entered bids at the event, which Fiorentini declared “very successful.”
“When the owner does not pay the taxes and abandons the home, very often the property falls into a state of severe disrepair and becomes both a public safety hazard and a source of blight and crime. Just one abandoned, dilapidated building can bring down the property values of an entire neighborhood.”
The two parcels that generated the highest bids were a two-story multi-purpose building that formerly housed the Liberty Club at 244 River St, which went for $265,000, and a two-family home at 9 Mulberry St., which was auctioned off for $210,000.
A garage at 67 Pecker St. in the city’s central business district near downtown netted $60,000, while 14 Forest St. went for $130,000, the mayor’s office said.
Two vacant pieces of land at 107 High St. and 16 Margerie St. went for $60,000 and $55,000, respectively.
Winning bidders have 30 days to finalize their real estate transactions and the city is able to use proceeds from the auction to bolster the city’s budget in two years.