Endicott house, Red Tail sites top county foreclosure auctions

Seven tax foreclosure properties, including two lots on Red Tail Ridge at Colfax, remained on the auction block for the county’s annual tax foreclosure sale Friday in the commissioners’ room at the courthouse.

The county initially listed 10 properties for the annual foreclosure sale, which involves properties with unpaid taxes for the past three years.

Three properties were redeemed by payment prior to the sale.

Red Tail Ridge includes view lots above North Palouse River Road at Colfax. Some houses have been built on the ridge which connects to River Road via an access road.

Red Tail Ridge was part of a move which led Colfax to adopt a rural residential zone which extended the city limits out to close to Glenwood.

Properties were listed on the foreclosure sale with a minimum amount to cover three years past taxes due, plus fines and fees. The properties were sold on a highest bidder format.

Anything bid beyond the amount due the county, goes to the registered owner of the property.

Current internet listings for Red Tail lots, which are normally in the range of six to eight acres, are in the $45,000 to $55,000 range.

According to records in the assessor’s office, the 37 Red Tail lots, which were developed by Washington Lands and Ranches, have all been sold off by the developer.

Minimums for the two Red Tail sites, lots 31 and 32, were $2,570 and $3,048.

Most of the pre-sale interest in the properties involved a house in Endicott.

Total due on the seven remaining properties for back taxes, fines and fees was $16,480.

At the Friday bidding, the Endicott house on D Street sold for $22,000. The sale bid on the Endicott house returned $4,092 due the county and $17,908 to the registered owner of the property.

Lot 31 in Red Tail Ridge sold on a high bid of $16,200. The sale returned $3,048 due the county with the balance going to the registered owner. The second Red Tail site sold on a bid of $4,000 with $2,570 going to the county.

Other properties sold were a lot in Malden, $1,341 minimum bid; a house in Thornton, $15,700 with $2,673 going to the county; and a former commercial building in Winona, $1,500 with $1,316 due the county.

A lot in Tekoa listed with $1,440 due the county did not attract a bid.

According to transfer tax affidavits filed Monday in the treasurer’s office, Zane Larsen of Pullman was the successful bidder for the purchase of the two Red Tail Ridge parcels

Kenneth Smelser, Portland, was the high bidder for the Endicott house on D Street, and Patrick Powell of Endicott was the winning bidder on the former commercial building in Winona for $1,500.

Henry Strickler of Spokane was the successful bidder for the house on the Old Thornton Highway.