For Sale

One of the best ways to preserve a building is to buy it and fix it up.

These buildings are for sale, either by private owners or the local municipality. If you're interested in buying a particular building but can't find contact information for it on its page, just email us at webmaster @ preservationready.org and we'll see what we can do to help out. Please understand we usually put any and all information we've uncovered on the building's page.

The City of Buffalo sells property in several ways:

The City's Real Estate Office sells City-owned properties to the public, including these City schools.

The City's Urban Homesteading Program sells properties at a low cost to prospective homeowners. Here's a link to a map of eligible neighborhoods.

Editor's note: The City of Buffalo's Homesteading Program is, at this time (2016), theoretical. If you wish to go this route to find a home to live in, be prepared for an abundance of conflicting information and requirements, lost papers, missed appointments and other indications of severe municipal dysfunction, or perhaps corruption. Here's one story of the broken process; here's another. If you'd like some help navigating this labyrinth, please let us know by commenting on this page using the link at the top.

Every fall, the City of Buffalo Assessor's Office holds an auction known as the Foreclosure Auction or the In Rem auction*. In this sale, several thousand properties, mostly ones fallen behind on taxes or user fees or abandoned (and the owners can't be found), are sold to the general public. Go here for auction information.

The 2016 auction took place October 18, 19 and 20, at the Buffalo Convention Center. The 2016 list (Excel spreadsheet) may be downloaded or the list searched here.

Erie County held its In Rem Tax Foreclosure Auction, number 164, on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at the Downtown Central Library in the Mason O. Damon Auditorium.Erie County Real Property Tax Services, Auction Information

The City of Niagara Falls also holds a residential real estate auction every Spring. Go here for more information.

And for those with a sense of adventure and deeper pockets, we have Schools For Sale and Churches For Sale.

* Why is it called "In Rem"? In the legal language of Latin, in rem means "against or about a thing," referring to a lawsuit or other legal action directed toward property, rather than a person. This auction is the primary way the City removes legal impediments to the sale of a piece of property, such as liens, unpaid bills or other claims. Another method of doing this is by way of a land bank. Erie County and Niagara County have a land bank; information can be found here.