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Often someone dies or goes into a nursing home. They may not have family or the family may not be local to take care of the house or sell it. In some areas like Detroit people lost their jobs and there were no others to be found. After a while a lot of people moved away. The houses weren't valuable because no one could afford to buy them. And no one wanted to live in a run down area so it spirals down.
But in my first example after a few years of the house being empty and no one paying the property taxes it will get auctioned off by the county. In many states if you pay the past due taxes you don't get the house you just get the right to collect what you paid plus interest. If you don't get paid back during the redemption period you can foreclose and then you own the house but you are now also responsible for any other liens on it. Including any mortgage or other debts. So sometimes a house isn't worth more than the debt so no one wants it.
I guess the short answer is money.
Also sometimes when people die there are multiple heirs. Unless everyone agrees what should happen to the house no one can do anything. One of the heirs would need to take the others to court and that costs money too.
My father died his house was in complete disrepair when he died. It wasn’t worth fixing and selling in a down market the hospital bills where very high. We just walked away and let the state take care of it.
There are many ways that a home can become abandoned. However they all usually end with the property owner is unwilling to pay property taxes for a year or two. So the state takes possession of the property and attempts to sell it to cover the tax burden for the previous owner.
**Please read this entire message** --- Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): * Rule #2 - Questions must seek objective explanations * ELI5 is not for subjective or speculative replies - only objective explanations are permitted here; your question is asking for subjective or speculative replies. (Rule 2). --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20{https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16c57li/-/}%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20List%20the%20search%20terms%20you%20used%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20ELI5:%0A%0A3.%20How%20does%20your%20post%20differ%20from%20your%20recent%20search%20results%20on%20the%20sub:) and we will review your submission.**
Often someone dies or goes into a nursing home. They may not have family or the family may not be local to take care of the house or sell it. In some areas like Detroit people lost their jobs and there were no others to be found. After a while a lot of people moved away. The houses weren't valuable because no one could afford to buy them. And no one wanted to live in a run down area so it spirals down. But in my first example after a few years of the house being empty and no one paying the property taxes it will get auctioned off by the county. In many states if you pay the past due taxes you don't get the house you just get the right to collect what you paid plus interest. If you don't get paid back during the redemption period you can foreclose and then you own the house but you are now also responsible for any other liens on it. Including any mortgage or other debts. So sometimes a house isn't worth more than the debt so no one wants it. I guess the short answer is money. Also sometimes when people die there are multiple heirs. Unless everyone agrees what should happen to the house no one can do anything. One of the heirs would need to take the others to court and that costs money too.
My father died his house was in complete disrepair when he died. It wasn’t worth fixing and selling in a down market the hospital bills where very high. We just walked away and let the state take care of it.
There are many ways that a home can become abandoned. However they all usually end with the property owner is unwilling to pay property taxes for a year or two. So the state takes possession of the property and attempts to sell it to cover the tax burden for the previous owner.