By Ann Briggs

We work with property owners to purchase land needed for highway improvements, such as this roundabout.

At some point in our life most of us will buy or sell a house, and we’ll call on a real estate agent to help us through that complicated process. Buying and selling property for transportation projects is equally complex, and we have a team of Real Estate Service specialists who act as real estate agents, relocation specialists, property managers, title researchers and appraisers to get us through the maze.

We auction off properties that are no longer needed for highway purposes. Often, these surplus properties are strips of land next to a highway, parcels that were used for construction and are no longer needed, or former pit, quarry and maintenance sites.

Occasionally a large parcel such as the 55-acre lot in the city of Renton, which is now being offered for bids, is placed on the auction block. We bought the site in the late 1950s and used it as sand and gravel pit.

Revenue from the sale of surplus properties goes back to the motor vehicle fund to be used for transportation purposes. Since 2009, the surplus property program has generated more than $20 million. That money is made available to city, county and state agencies to fund road, street and highway projects.

What’s a first step in building a road? Having someplace to put it

A key difference in our buying process that you might not experience when buying a house, is the property we’re looking at is usually not on the market for sale. We try to find transportation solutions that have the least amount of impact on homes and businesses, but that’s not always possible, especially in urban areas. That’s where our Real Estate Services team steps in.

Just as your real estate agent looks at comparable home sales in the area when you are buying or selling a home, we do the same when establishing a fair value for the property we want to acquire. We use a market analysis for properties under $25,000 and do a full appraisal for anything over. With this information, we begin good faith negotiations (pdf 367 kb) with the owner. At times, we may enlist a third-party mediator if negotiations stall. Only when all else fails, do we use the state’s right of eminent domain and go through condemnation proceedings.

When a property is acquired, the state pays all taxes and fees that would normally be charged to the seller. The reason is that the seller did not initiate the sale – we did. If a property is acquired and affects the ability of the occupancy to continue, we help the owner, tenant or business find a replacement property, cover all costs associated with moving and even help renters with payments for a set number of months, if they are relocated to a higher-cost rental unit.

It’s our job to ensure that we make good use of taxpayers’ money and deliver needed transportation improvements, but we also recognize that property owners have invested a great deal – monetarily and emotionally – in their property. In the end, we want them to come away feeling that they were treated fairly.

It's that time again! We have 18 properties available in a sealed bid auction that is scheduled for April 28, 2010 at 1:30 P.M.  

One of the parcels available is located in Skagit County with a charming home built in the 1930’s.  This property (left)  is not only large in size but also has several great outbuildings.   It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a couple of detached outbuildings on 1.35 acres. There is an open house scheduled for Sunday, April 18th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. for those interested in seeing the property in person.

Part of the construction of a project, such as the widening of a highway, or the building of a new stormwater treatment area, involves us acquiring properties affected by the construction. After the project has been completed, remaining properties, such as this land and home are declared surplus to our needs and are available at auction.

Three of the properties included in the auction have various views of the Tacoma Narrows and the Puget Sound. Here is specific information about the parcel pictured to the right as well as a list of all of the available properties on our Real Estate Services Auction home page.

The monies received for these properties will immediately benefit the motorists of Washington by supplementing the special funding resource dedicated to highways.

If you have questions about these or any of the available parcels, please contact Michelle Newlean at 360-705-7332 or NewleaM@wsdot.wa.gov

Remember back in August when we had all of those cabins up for auction near Mt Baker?  We had a lot of buzz around those little structures which garnered quite a turnout. We had another auction recently that seemed to fly a little under the radar as we have quite a few properties still up for grab.  This one pictured on the left is in Skagit county.  It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a couple of detached outbuildings on 1.35 acres...and it's available on a first-come, first serve basis at the minimum bid price!


We are currently offering 16 properties total that were up for auction. The monies received for these properties will immediately benefit the motorists of Washington by supplementing the special funding resource dedicated to highways.

Check out that view! Here is specific information about this parcel as well as a list of all of the available properties on our Real Estate Services Auction home page.

If you have questions about these or any of the available parcels, please contact Michelle Newlean at 360-705-7332 or NewleaM@wsdot.wa.gov