Ramsey Road house on roundabout corner likely to hit auction block

The Hayden City Council is advertising a house for sale on Ramsey Road.

The house in question — 8755 N. Ramsey Road — sits on the corner of Ramsey and Honeysuckle, one corner for a roundabout meant to smooth out traffic on a particularly busy four-way stop.

“The design on the roundabout is done,” city administrator Brett Boyer said. “So we know how much property the city needs, and so we can divide that off and sell it without much cost to the city.”

Idaho code requires that, after the properly noticed hearing, the city can auction, sell or exchange the property, which Hayden would likely follow through with a sealed auction. State law further posits that a minimum bid reaches no lower than the declared value. But buyer beware: What looks like more than a half-acre property is actually about .28 acres. The right-of-way and easement the city intends to keep has almost halved the property. A December 2019 appraisal put the house — minus the right-of-way and easements — at $220,000.

Boyer said the roundabout project wasn’t the only reason the city was looking to sell.

“Also,” he added, “the market is just good right now.”

The purchase will come with a few caveats. City Hall will receive bids on the house — complete with renters — until 10 a.m. Oct. 8. The property is not connected to the sewer, an issue that will contractually have to be remedied by whomever successfully outbids the field and buys the property. (A stub is available on Ramsey Road. The sewer cap fee is $10,404.) The roundabout will change garage access once construction is complete.

The city picked up the property in 2017 specifically for the right-of-way access, a decision the city made with the intention of selling after City Hall goes through the roundabout design phase. Purchased for $225,000, and with the design phase now complete, Hayden is now ready to sell.