Only a dozen properties across Tayside and Fife have been listed on a national empty homes website.
The free service was set up to identify usable houses and flats that could be returned to use.
The Scottish Government and housing charity Shelter Scotland are among the backers of reportemptyhomes.com and 21 of out of 32 Scottish councils have offered their support.
However, earlier this week only six homes were listed in Fife, four in Angus, two in Perth and Kinross and none in Dundee.
There are reckoned to be more than 100,000 empty private and public sector homes in Scotland.
The person who reported an empty home in Kirkcaldy said neighbours had been forced to trim the overgrown hedge so people could walk past on the pavement and the roof was in need of repair.
Another user said of a cottage in Pittenweem: “It looks like it hasn’t been lived in for years.”
Also on the list were a commercial property in Perth town centre and farm cottages in Angus.
Dundee City Council has cut the council tax discount available to owners of second homes to encourage them not to leave them empty.
A conference by the Empty Homes Partnership was held in Edinburgh this week to get across the message that leaving properties unused is a “disgraceful waste” at a time when 160,000 households are on the waiting list for a home.
Kristen Miller from Shelter Scotland said: “With fewer homes being built, there is no end in sight for the tens of thousands of households in Scotland stuck on housing waiting lists.
“We urge councils to do all they can to make use of the houses they already have in their communities.”
She added: “Bringing empty homes back in to use has many benefits it adds to the housing supply, contributes to local regeneration and supports rural communities and community safety.”