Owning a listed property

Buying a vacant or derelict Register property: due diligence checklist

John HarrisonUpdated October 2026

Buying an empty National Register building needs the same diligence as any derelict property plus five historic-specific checks: confirm the listing and its boundary, read the nomination to see what is contributing, search the title for easements and local designation, ask the SHPO about prior tax-credit work, and plan the rehabilitation around the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards if you want credits. Facts are as of October 2026.

Listing itself imposes no federal restriction on a private owner; 36 CFR 60.2 says so directly. The checklist below is about finding the restrictions and liabilities that do exist, and the benefits that may offset them.

1. Confirm the listing and its boundaries

Start with the address lookup on this site, then cross-check against the National Park Service, which keeps the Register. The NPS offers a searchable table and a downloadable spreadsheet of every listing, searchable by state, county, city or street address, and a map that it warns contains anomalies, especially in complex historic districts.

Two things to settle before anything else:

• Individually listed or in a district? An individually listed building carries its own nomination. A building in a district is covered by the district nomination and may be classed as contributing or non-contributing.
• Where is the boundary? The nomination contains a verbal boundary description and a map. Outbuildings, lots and later wings may fall inside or outside it. The property page on this site gives the reference number you need to pull the form.

Note also that a Determination of Eligibility is not a listing. Under 36 CFR 60.3, a property found eligible but not formally listed does not qualify for benefits such as grants or tax incentives that require listing.

2. Pull the nomination and read what is contributing

The nomination is the legal description of why the property matters, and it tells you which parts carry the significance. For a district, check whether your building is listed as contributing; the NPS tax-credit program requires a building in a district to be certified as contributing to the district’s significance before it can qualify. For an individual listing, the description section identifies the character-defining features, which is what any reviewer will expect you to keep.

Read it for condition too. Nominations are written at the time of listing, so a form from 1984 describes the building four decades ago. Our reading a nomination form guide explains the sections.

3. Easements, covenants and local designation

Order a full title search and look for:

• Preservation easements. The IRS describes these as a restriction on the use of real property granted in perpetuity to a qualified organization. They bind every future owner, and the holder, not the SHPO, approves changes. Ask who holds it and for its text. See historic preservation easements.
• Grant covenants. Public grants for past repairs sometimes come with recorded covenants requiring maintenance or review for a set term. The SHPO will know of state and federal grants on the building.
• Local designation. The NPS notes that Register listing does not automatically create local landmark status, but many listed buildings are also locally designated, and the local ordinance is what actually regulates demolition and exterior change. Ask the municipal planning office in writing.

4. Prior tax-credit work and recapture

If a previous owner claimed the 20 percent federal rehabilitation credit, two things follow. First, the IRS may recapture all or part of the credit if the property is disposed of or ceases to qualify within the five-year recapture period; that liability sits with the seller, and it can shape their timing and price. Second, the NPS certification file documents what work was approved, which is useful evidence of the building’s recent condition. Request it through the SHPO. The federal historic rehabilitation tax credit guide covers the program.

5. Condition, code and insurance

A vacant building deteriorates faster than an occupied one. Commission a structural survey and a roof and envelope assessment before the contract goes firm, and get written confirmation from the building department of which codes a change of use will trigger. The NPS mentions that federal alternatives to some building-code fire and life-safety requirements may be available for historic buildings; ask the SHPO what that means in your jurisdiction.

On insurance, ask whether a policy for the rehabilitation period and afterwards includes ordinance-or-law coverage, which pays the added cost of meeting current code after a loss. Vacant buildings are often excluded or surcharged. Our historic home insurance guide goes into this.

6. Environmental: lead and asbestos

Treat both as present until tests say otherwise.

• Lead. The federal government banned lead-based paint for homes in 1978, and the EPA says a home built before then is more likely to contain it. Most listed buildings predate the ban.
• Asbestos. The EPA lists vinyl floor tiles and sheet-flooring backing, hot-water and steam pipe insulation, roofing and siding shingles, textured paints and patching compounds, and vermiculite attic and wall insulation among materials that may contain asbestos. Fibres are released when material is disturbed during demolition, repair or remodelling, which is exactly what a rehabilitation does.

Budget for licensed testing and abatement. Note that 36 CFR 800.5 lists hazardous-material remediation that is inconsistent with the Standards among examples of adverse effects, so if any federal involvement exists, abatement methods are reviewed too.

7. Financing the rehabilitation with credits

The federal credit is 20 percent of qualified rehabilitation expenses for a certified historic structure. The NPS eligibility rules, in summary: the building must be listed or certified as contributing to a registered district; the project must pass a substantial rehabilitation test, with costs exceeding the greater of $5,000 or the building’s adjusted basis; the work must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation; and the building must be depreciable, income-producing property for at least five years. Owner-occupied residences do not qualify. The IRS says the credit is claimed ratably over five years.

Many states add their own credits, some open to homeowners; see state historic tax credits. Apply before work begins, and expect the SHPO and NPS to review drawings against the Standards.

If any federal money, loan guarantee or permit is part of the financing, Section 106 review follows; see Section 106 review.

Vacant at listing: examples from the database

Nominations often record vacancy, and the summaries on this site flag it. Each of the following was described as vacant in its nomination; current status may differ and should be checked on the ground.

• Tecumseh Building, Springfield, Ohio: a ten-storey office building of 1923, recorded as vacant and as the city’s tallest building, with original corridors and terrazzo lobbies surviving.
• Vassar Swiss Underwear Company Building, Chicago: a 1913 to 1914 flat-slab concrete factory, enlarged in 1923 to 1924, recorded as vacant.
• Engine House No. 18, Los Angeles: a 1904 to 1905 fire station recorded at listing as vacant, vandalized and at risk of demolition.
• Atlantic Bank and Trust Company Building, Burlington, North Carolina: a nine-storey Art Deco tower of 1928 to 1929, listed as vacant.
• New York State Inebriate Asylum, Binghamton: a limestone Gothic Revival asylum of 1857 to 1866 that closed in 1993 after a parapet collapse and was vacant at listing.
• Ontario and Western Railroad Passenger Station, Napanoch, New York: a 1903 depot whose line was abandoned in the 1950s, recorded as vacant.

Together they show the range: office towers and factories where the federal credit fits, and small civic buildings where a local or state program, or none, is the realistic route. For the ground rules of ownership once you close, read what National Register listing means for homeowners and renovating or demolishing a listed building.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Researched from the sources above and drafted with AI assistance; published under the editor's name, corrections welcome. See the editorial policy.