Minnesota town offers free land with no takers (value, building, residential)
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Tiny southeastern Minnesota town offers free residential land, gets no takers in 3 years
CLAREMONT, Minn. (AP) -- A small southeastern Minnesota community is trying but failing to give away land for free.
Claremont, which has about 500 residents, has had no takers in the three years it has been offering free lots to anyone with a qualifying income who is willing to build a house, Minnesota Public Radio News reported (Even offering free land, SE Minn. town stays small | Minnesota Public Radio News ). The city, which is located between Owatonna and Rochester, has three churches, three parks, a gas station and a bank — all within one square mile.
I'm not familiar with that town, but free land has little value if you are required to build a house on it and you could buy an existing house for half the cost of building a new one. That's the situation in all the "free land" places I've looked at.
Now, when they start offering five hundred acres of good farmland for free, instead of a tiny city lot, then I might be willing to pay to have a house built on it.
The town will have to bring in business if it wants to survive and grow. Start by building a small grocery store. Then expand to a hardware store, a doctors office, a dentist, etc.
I read that, I think you have to have less than 75 k household income to qualify, and you have to build a house. I can't imagine that there's a lot of people who make under 75 yet can afford to build a house and relocate to a rural area.
The town will have to bring in business if it wants to survive and grow. Start by building a small grocery store. Then expand to a hardware store, a doctors office, a dentist, etc.
It's a "chicken and egg" situation. What entrepreneur would want to own and operate a grocery store in a town of only 500 people? But who would want to live in a town without a nearby grocery store?
at least there's a pretty good chance the crime rate is low! Other than that, with little decent prospects for income, there is not much you can do with such an offer.
I've lived in a town with about 25 houses, but it was in a recreational area and a 20-30 minute drive to a major city in two different directions. I don't think that is what is being offered here.
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