JACKSON, Mo. -- One man's weed-strewn vacant lot is another man's treasure.

Just ask those who bought parcels of tax-owed land at auction on the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse steps Monday.

Bidders bought 19 of 68 tracts of land, some for as little as the price of delinquent taxes. In other cases, bidding forced up the sale price. Most of the parcels, particularly those burdened with thousands of dollars in taxes owed the county, had no bidders.

But county Collector Diane Diebold said 19 is the most parcels of land she has seen sold at the annual auction. The total is more than double the number of parcels sold last year.

Several tracts of land were removed from the auction list shortly before the sale after owners paid their delinquent taxes, she said.

In all, bidders spent $11,212 to buy the parcels. The annual sale netted $9,769 for the county.

The remainder of the money over and above the delinquent taxes owed belongs to the delinquent taxpayers should they pay their debts. If that doesn't happen, the money eventually ends up as part of the state's unclaimed property.

Under Missouri law, land sold at the collector's sale can be redeemed by the tax-owing owner within two years after the sale. The owner must pay the taxes plus interest and penalties to the person who bought the property at the collector's sale. If the owner doesn't do that, the buyer receives a collector's deed for the property.

Danny Stratton of Oak Ridge, Mo., has been bidding at the annual sale since 1994. "I do it just to get the junk property, the vacant lots that nobody cares about or wants," he said.

This time, Stratton spent less than $300 to buy two vacant lots -- one in Jackson and the other in Cape Girar-deau. He was outbid on several other tracts of land.

Stratton has bought 30 to 40 parcels of land over the past seven years. "I've got deeds to 22." He mows those lots. The rest have been redeemed.

Even if the land is redeemed, Stratton figures he comes out ahead.

Money in the bank'

One of his buys Monday was a vacant tract of land on Kenwood in Cape Girar-deau's Carolewood Estates. He spent $227 to buy the lot, which is in a high-priced residential area. "This is just money in the bank," said Stratton, who expects the owner will redeem it. Stratton figures to make a small profit.

If that doesn't happen, Stratton said, he'll end up with a lot that cost him next to nothing and could be worth thousands of dollars.

Cape Girardeau restaurant owners John and Jerrianne Wyman spent nearly $5,000 on five lots near their downtown home. The tracts include both vacant lots and those with dilapidated vacant buildings.

The Wymans said they bought the properties to protect the value of their home, a restored brick house on Merriwether Street.

"It's self preservation down there," John Wyman said.

Jerrianne Wyman said Monday's transactions amount to an opportunity to buy the land. The transaction, she said, won't be complete until the deadline has passed for redeeming the land.

John Wyman said the delinquent-tax sales are one way residents can revitalize Cape Girardeau's downtown. "We just hope people take an interest in the downtown," he said.