Unsuspecting Internet buyers paying thousands for unbuildable lots
Old-time swamp peddling has gone high-tech, thanks to Internet-auction sites such as eBay.
The pitch – speculation on near-worthless Florida real estate – is decades old. But today, a new generation eyeing property for investment or retirement is buying land that’s miles from civilization, has no roads or utilities and sometimes is underwater.
Known as “paper subdivisions,” these undeveloped tracts are the remnants of developers’ unfulfilled dreams – if not outright scams – in Florida’s Osceola, Polk, Volusia and Brevard counties. Buyers are paying thousands of dollars over assessed value for a lot that can’t be built on in a subdivision that does not officially exist.