In 1958, a developer named M. Penn Phillips looked at the west shore of California's largest lake and saw the future. He and the Holly Corporation drew up plans for 25,000 homes and 40,000 residents. They called it Salton City. Frank Sinatra came down to water-ski. The thing was supposed to be the next Palm Springs.
It didn't work out that way. The lake got salty. The tourists left. The developer's grand vision sat in the desert for forty years, mostly empty, while the lots traded for whatever someone was willing to pay that afternoon.
Then something funny happened. Between 2004 and 2007, new houses went up. The Torres-Martinez tribe opened a casino. People started showing up again. The desert started filling back in - slowly, population began growing.
Which brings us to a 9,920-square-foot rectangle on Palm Kist Avenue.
Pull up the aerial map. Eighty feet of frontage facing the road. One hundred twenty-four feet deep on each side. Eighty-one feet across the back. Four corners, no funny business, no easements eating the middle, no neighbor's garage hanging over the edge. The other photos show you the rest - paved road running right past the front, open desert behind it, mountains stacked on the horizon.
Now look at what the county wants from the owner of this parcel each year. Fifty-four dollars and change. Annual. Not monthly. That is the entire 2025 tax bill on a residential lot in Imperial County with water at the street and sewer at the street.
Here is the deal.
Total price $11,895. Put $119 down and the parcel is yours under owner financing - no application, no underwriter, no credit pull. If you can make the down payment, the deal is done. After that, $119 a month carries it. Pay the balance off whenever the mood strikes - next year, next month, next Tuesday - and not one extra dollar in penalty fees gets tacked on for paying off early.
