By John Voket
If you are a citizen looking to purchase Federal real estate, the federal Government Services Administration (GSA) Office of Real Property Utilization and Disposal stands ready to handle your Federal real estate acquisition, utilization and disposal needs.
According to the GSA, there are three easy steps to finding and buying surplus Federal real estate through their Office of Real Property Disposal. As in any real estate transaction, bidders participate in an open, competitive market for the best purchase price.
PBS serves as the Federal Government’s builder, developer, lessor, and manager of government- owned and leased properties. And PBS is the largest and most diversified real estate organization in the world—responsible for managing the utilization and disposal of Federal excess and surplus real property government-wide.
There are three relatively easy steps to get started if you want to consider acquiring a PBS property:
Step 1 – Find Available Real Estate
Property Disposal Websites GSA publishes current and upcoming public sales information on its free website: www.propertydisposal.gsa.gov.The website features a U.S. map, which allows users to search for properties by state and type. Additional federal properties can also be found at www.govsales.gov, the official site to buy U.S. government property from various Federal agencies.
Step 2 – Obtain an Invitation for Bid
GSA provides all the information necessary to bid on a particular property in the Invitation for Bid (IFB) package. You can obtain an IFB for a specific property by clicking on: propertydisposal.gsa.gov – or by calling the applicable GSA regional office.
If you don’t have access to the Internet, the regional GSA office responsible for available property in your state can provide additional information. IFB packages generally include the following information:
• location of the property
• property description
• maps
• pictures
• zoning and land use regulations
• environmental conditions
• general terms of the sale
• directions to the property
• Inspection guidelines
The final part of the process—acquiring your government-owned property—will be covered in a future segment.
About James Moyer