COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE : Low-Priced Property from 5 States to Go on the Auction Block

Have you been longing to build your getaway in a rural nook of Utah? Or erect an office building in a small California desert town?

You’ll have your chance to pick up a piece of scenery at a public land auction in Costa Mesa on March 1. The auction, to be held at the Red Lion Inn, will be conducted by M.J.R. Holdings Inc., a Santa Ana firm that specializes in selling low-priced property, much of which it buys in foreclosure sales.

More than 4,000 acres of vacant land throughout California, Utah, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico will be put on the auction block. The 187 lots range in size from 5,000 square feet to 670 acres, said Robert Dale, an M.J.R. spokesman.

The land also “runs the gamut” in possible uses, Dale said. “Some of the lots are in urban areas, or if you’re looking for seclusion, we’ve got that type of dirt too,” he said.

But if Orange County is the place you’d like to break ground, this auction might not be for you. “We only have one lot in Orange County, and it’s on the side of a hill in Silverado Canyon,” Dale said. “Frankly, I’m not sure what you would do with it.”