ARIZONA NEWS
Phoenix officials sell city-owned properties online for first time

PHOENIX — Are you looking to purchase properties owned by the city of Phoenix, but weren’t sure how to go about doing it? Now there’s an easier way.
The city of Phoenix is selling city-owned properties on its website for the first time in order to generate revenue and unload the burden of paying for it, according to KJZZ.
The website will allow prospective buyers to search properties by location, price and square footage and offers a “brochure with land details and location highlights.”
The publication found that the city currently has around 500 vacant lots, but the website features 115 sites that can be used for anything from retail to single-story family homes.
Part of the motivation behind selling the properties is to remove some of the financial burden from council members and taxpayers, as Neighborhood Services Director Chris Hallett told council members during a recent subcommittee meeting.
Hallett said the city has sold 131 lots and collected more than $17.5 million since June 2014, but staffers have only evaluated about 1,000 out of 5,500 estimated lots owned by the city.