Florida has 199,495 identifiable vacant single-family homes in DealMachine's database right now. Of those, 155,013 are also absentee-owned. That means 78% of Florida's vacant homes belong to someone who doesn't live there, doesn't live nearby, and is paying taxes on a property that's generating nothing.
That's not a vague estimate. It's a live count from DealMachine's parcel-level data, pulled directly from municipal records, county assessor files, and USPS delivery signals.
Nationally, DealMachine tracks over 1.5 million vacant single-family homes across the United States. Every one of them is tied to a specific owner record with a mailable address. And when you stack vacancy against other distress signals like absentee ownership, tax delinquency, and zombie foreclosure status, you stop guessing which markets have the best empty house lead generation opportunities. You just look at the numbers.
Not every empty-looking house is a real lead. If you've read our vacant property investing guide, you know the basics. The real question is how to find vacant houses with enough data layered on top to tell you whether the owner is actually motivated to sell.
DealMachine identifies vacancy by aggregating multiple signal sources at the parcel level: municipal vacancy registries, county assessor records, USPS delivery data, and foreclosure abandonment filings. No competitor combines all of these into one searchable database with the ability to stack vacancy against absentee ownership, tax delinquency, and zombie status in a single query.
Each layer narrows the list and increases lead quality. An absentee-owned vacant property means the owner lives somewhere else entirely and is paying to maintain something they can't use. A tax-delinquent vacant property means the owner has stopped paying the county. A zombie property means the owner walked away mid-foreclosure but still holds the title. (For more on that last category, see our guide to finding abandoned properties.)
The table below shows the top 15 states by total vacant single-family homes, along with the overlaps that determine actual lead quality. Data was pulled from DealMachine's parcel API on May 18, 2026.
| State | Vacant Homes | Vacant + Absentee | Absentee % | Vacant + Tax Delinquent | Zombie Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FL | 199,495 | 155,013 | 78% | 6,786 | 1,617 |
| TX | 171,545 | 128,580 | 75% | 13,768 | 442 |
| IL | 128,453 | 93,900 | 73% | 5,204 | 1,147 |
| OH | 126,282 | 93,738 | 74% | 11,147 | 685 |
| CA | 114,633 | 77,974 | 68% | 2,299 | 497 |
| MI | 103,036 | 76,510 | 74% | 18,897 | 205 |
| PA | 74,959 | 53,572 | 71% | 3,875 | 384 |
| NY | 67,486 | — | — | 1,077 | — |
| IN | 66,184 | — | — | 5,854 | — |
| MO | 61,296 | 48,545 | 79% | 823 | — |
| NC | 57,287 | 48,464 | 85% | 4,760 | 97 |
| GA | 56,964 | 44,596 | 78% | 8,743 | 206 |
| AL | 47,830 | — | — | 1,095 | — |
| SC | 41,068 | 35,316 | 86% | 534 | — |
| TN | 38,322 | 32,157 | 84% | 3,755 | 53 |
Data reflects the live parcel database as of May 18, 2026.
Florida: 199,495 vacant homes, 78% absentee-owned. The highest volume of any state, and more than three-quarters belong to owners who live somewhere else. For wholesalers, that makes Florida the densest driving-for-dollars target list in the country.
Michigan: 18.3% tax-delinquent rate among vacant homes. Of Michigan's 103,036 vacant homes, 18,897 are also tax delinquent. That's the highest ratio of any top-15 state by a wide margin. Empty house plus unpaid taxes is about as strong a motivation signal as you'll find in public records.
North Carolina and South Carolina: 85-86% absentee overlap. Nearly every vacant home in these states belongs to an absent owner. That means blanket outreach to the vacant home list wholesale is unusually efficient because you're almost never wasting a mailer on someone who lives on-site.
Sun Belt states (FL, TX, GA, SC, TN) show absentee rates between 75% and 86%. The story is out-of-state investors and second-home buyers who purchased properties but let them sit. If you're looking for the driving for dollars best states based on absentee-owner density, this is where the numbers point. Open List Builder, select one of these states, stack the vacant and absentee filters, and you have a driving route full of confirmed targets before you leave the house.
Rust Belt states (MI, OH, IL, PA) show elevated zombie counts and significantly higher tax-delinquent rates. This is structural vacancy driven by population decline and aging housing stock. Michigan has 18,897 vacant homes that are also tax delinquent. Ohio follows with 11,147. These aren't speculative investments gone quiet. These are properties where the owner has functionally given up. For investors focused on distressed-acquisition strategies, the Rust Belt has the most concentrated pool of motivated sellers.
The most motivated sellers sit at the intersection of all three flags: vacant, absentee-owned, and tax delinquent. The owner doesn't live there, can't maintain the property, and owes the county money. Michigan alone has 18,897 properties matching the first two layers. That's the kind of list that produces responses on the first mailer. (If you want a similar data breakdown focused on equity, check out our free and clear properties by state report.)
Pull your vacant property list in DealMachine. Stack the absentee and tax-delinquent filters to surface the highest-motivation sellers in your area, then build a driving route with real owner data attached to every pin.