article_snippet: They may not be much to look at - but these scraps of land and tumbledown shacks could prove a bargain for buyers in New Orleans.
article_snippet: The properties were only put forward after city tax collectors tried to find the rightful owners and failed, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
article_snippet: Many are barely a mile from the historic French Quarter, and not far from parks or the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
article_snippet: This has raised fears that professional investors and would-be landlords will take advantage of the low prices to turn large profits after improving the properties, especially as prices and the reputation of New Orleans as a city recover.
article_snippet: However, the prospect seems not to worry the administration of mayor Mitch Landrieu, which could earn millions of dollars from the sale.