Flood homes in Alberta sold at auction but there's a catch

Time has run out on a provincial auction of more than two dozen Alberta homes that were flooded in 2013, homes that need to be moved.

Most of the homes 20 in total were located in the hard-hit community of High River, one was in Sundre and the remainder in the MD of Foothills.

Once thebidding closed on Friday night, the five homes,listed below, sold for between $135,800 and $181,000.

• See recentphotosof five flooded High River homes up for auction

The rest of the houses sold for between$30,000 to $250,000.

The government bought the 26 damaged houses after the 2013 flood.

The successful bidders will now have to pay to move the houses to a new property so the areas can becomefloodways.

Earlier this week, the auction attracted potential buyers to an otherwise desolate street in the neighbourhood of Beachwood in High River.

Susan Cramer looked at a couple of larger bungalows that she was considering moving to a property near Calgary, but only if the price was right.

"There's a cost savings involved we hope. The big thing is how much will the move cost?"

Move could cost up to $200K

Russell Holmes, who works for a home moving company, said that's an important question for potential buyers to answer.

Moving a smaller house a short distance could cost as little as $30,000, but a large brick house could cost as much as $200,000, he added.

"It's a big undertaking," Holmes said. "These houses in this area in High River here there's going to be some cutting involved. They're just a little bit too big to go down the road in one piece easily."

Holmes said potential buyers should also make sure their municipal government allows property owners to move inhouses built elsewhere.

The auction is now closed and the successful bidders have 160 business days to move their homes.

Some of the homes sold on auction:

This house at 1577GasconyLane S.W. was assessed at more than $830,000 last year (land and home). The house alone sold at auction for $180,000.

This houseat 1587 Gascony Lane S.W. was assessed at more than $800,000 last year (land and home). The house alone sold at auction for $175,050.

This houseat 1584GasconyLane S.W. was assessed at $650,000 last year (land and home).The house alone sold at auction for $135,800.

This houseat 1578 Gascony Lane S.W. was assessed at $680,000 last year (land and home).The house alone sold at auction for $181,000.

This houseat1583 Gascony Lane S.W. was assessed at $515,000 last year (land and home).The house alone sold at auction for $141,000.

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