It’s not wallpaper covering the walls outside the treasurer’s office in the Lenawee County Courthouse.
“It’s, sadly, pictures of the properties that are for sale,” said treasurer Marilyn Woods while making her monthly report to county commissioners on July 12.
Photographs and maps of 79 properties on the July 21 auction list cover two walls outside the treasurer’s office in the basement of the courthouse. The images of houses ranging from dilapidated wrecks to several newer homes are also now available online at www.sri-taxsale.com/Lenawee.
Vacant lots make up more than half the list of tax-foreclosed properties this year. They range from small pieces of land in cities and villages to nine lots in Adrian’s Scott Ridge subdivision that were left over from last year’s auction. Scott Ridge lots had sold for more than $20,000 apiece before the housing market tumbled several years ago. The nine lots are listed for minimum bids ranging from $6,814 to $7,443.
There are also four lots in the Harrington Heights subdivision south of the Irish Hills Towers in Cambridge Township, with minimum bids between $4,185 to $9,803.
A 25-acre parcel at M-52 and Service Road in Franklin Township has a starting price of $7,073.
There are at least two lots listed for less than $1,000.
Eight commercial buildings are up for auction, six of them in Adrian, including three brick structures in the historic downtown business district. A long-vacant gasoline station at North Main and Front streets is listed with a $27,036 minimum bid.
There are 28 houses up for auction, ranging from partially demolished to a newer-looking timber home near Silver Lake in Woodstock Township. The house listed as 15260 West U.S. 12 has a starting bid of $11,204.
The auction will be at Adrian High School’s performing arts center again this year. Woods said she moved the sale to the theater location last year because of overflow crowds at the courthouse in recent years. The number of properties up for sale last year had also doubled to 56 from the year before.
People interested in bidding can view properties from the street, but are not allowed to walk through or inspect houses and buildings. Bidders can register online before the sale at www.sri-taxsale.com/Tax/Michigan/Registration.