CHAMPAIGN — The five surplus properties that Champaign County is auctioning off are by no means in high demand.

They're all vacant lots — two in Urbana, two in Rantoul and one in Sidney.

Little wonder there's no rush to build on them.

One of the tracts — on Grant Place in Urbana — is a strip only 3.75 feet wide, said Bill Krieger, sales manager for Joseph E. Meyer and Associates, which is handling the sale.

Another is a "small spite strip" on Steven Drive in Rantoul, Krieger said. He described a spite strip as land "between subdivisions that doesn't allow one subdivision to cross into another."

Some of the tracts are irregularly shaped, others are landlocked.

In most cases, adjacent landowners have been contacted about the availability of the property.

But if no one bids on the properties, the county will continue to carry them as inventory and they could be put up for auction again next year, Krieger said.

Also being offered at Champaign County's sealed-bid auction are 29 mobile homes.

The mobile homes are located in Urbana, Mahomet and Rantoul and date from 1967 to 1990. The land they're on doesn't come with them.

In Champaign County, the required minimum bid on real estate is $625; on mobile homes, it's $695. Bids are due by the close of business Friday in the Champaign County treasurer's office.

After the county treasurer receives the sealed bids, they'll be forwarded to Meyer and Associates for processing, Krieger said.

"We'll notify the successful bidders approximately three to five days after we receive them," he said.

Champaign County Treasurer Dan Welch said by the time a tax sale is held, more than 99 percent of taxes have been collected and tax buyers come in to make up the remainder.

Welch said when taxable property goes up for sale and no one has purchased it after 2 1/2 years, the county takes deed to the property and auctions it off.

Welch said if lots are offered two or three times at auction and haven't gotten bids, the county could elect to deed the lots over to adjacent property owners simply to get the land off the books.