Mary Schuch-Krebs is not a real estate agent by trade, but she’s getting some practice these days.

And, boy, does she have a fixer-upper for you.

Schuch-Krebs, the Kenosha County clerk, is planning January auctions of two tax-delinquent properties with unusual stories.

Unlike most of the delinquent properties that the county takes over — typically undevelopable parcels that owners simply let go — the two going on the block next month come with houses.

One, about a block from Grewenow Elementary School on Kenosha’s south side, is a 1,949-square-foot duplex with upstairs and downstairs units and a two-car detached garage.

The other, a few blocks from Wilmot High School, is a 119-year-old, 1,222-square-foot single-family home.

Both became county property in recent months because their owners had gone at least three years without paying toward mounting property tax balances.

Bids below assessments

“It’s actually a very nice two-flat,” Schuch-Krebs said while touring the Kenosha property, 7837 21st Ave. She said its former owner abandoned it about 10 years ago.

During that time, the house was not heated and upstairs windows were left open. Sheets of peeling paint hang from the walls and ceilings; water damage has buckled a few sections of hardwood flooring.

The property is valued at $174,400, but Schuch-Krebs said the city assessor’s office has agreed to reconsider based on its ragged condition.

Schuch-Krebs said a sealed-bid auction, slated for January, will begin with a minimum price of about $50,000. Would-be buyers should visit her office, 1010 56th St., to receive more information about placing bids.

The two-bedroom Wilmot property, 11325 Fox River Road, will go on the block with a $27,000 starting bid. Its assessed value is $81,200.

Unusual cases

As the economy has tanked over the last few years, the county has issued tax certificates — precursors to tax deeds — on a mounting number of properties.

Certificates were issued for 3,653 parcels for 2008, representing a combined $7.99 million in unpaid taxes. For 2007, 3,210 parcels were delinquent, comprising roughly $7.5 million in unpaid taxes.

County Treasurer Teri Jacobson said the Kenosha duplex and the Wilmot house fell delinquent under unusual circumstances that don’t necessarily indicate a trend toward more property owners losing houses to the county.

Typically, Jacobson said a mortgage company will take control of a property before the county issues a tax deed.

In the case of the Kenosha duplex, the owner had purchased it in 1979 and did not have a mortgage on the property as he let roughly $50,000 in back taxes and penalties pile up.

Jacobson said the Wilmot home involved a family inheritance situation.

“If there’s a mortgage on it, we would almost never get it,” Jacobson said. “Which is part of the reason we almost never get houses.”

During her seven years in office, Jacobson said she can recall tax deeding three residential properties. Edie LaMothe, Schuch-Krebs’ chief deputy, said she can recall maybe four or five house auctions over her 13 years in the clerk’s office.

That infrequency is OK, as far as Jacobson is concerned.

“Really, the county doesn’t want to be in the real estate business,” she said. “We just kind of want our money.”