Here’s more disturbing news: Of the 155,000 properties in Lucas County, about 25,000 are delinquent in taxes and 3,000 to 4,000 are chronically vacant.

Wade Kapszukiewicz, Lucas County treasurer, and David Mann, executive director of the Lucas County Land Bank, revealed those sobering statistics to members of the East Toledo Club at its December luncheon.

I thought they were exaggerating, but then I took a mental inventory of the closest 10 properties on my street in suburban Rossford—four are vacant.

So, what does this mean to you as a homeowner?

Tighten your wallet; the value of your home will not return to pre-2007 levels for some time, which means your borrowing power has been greatly reduced as well as your ability to sell your home to recoup your investment.

The urban core is particularly affected. Homes in East Toledo, for example, were selling for $30,000 to $40,000 pre-recession. Now, some sell for under $10,000. Foreclosures are common and others who owe more than their house is worth just walk away. Scavengers then swoop down and strip these abandoned homes of their aluminum siding, copper pipes and anything else of value.

One East Toledo resident, Brenda Hagman, whose well-kept home is surrounded by three boarded-up structures asked Kapszukiewicz for advice.

Keep in touch and be patient, he said.

The land bank, which is just over a year old, is dedicated to preserving property values. It is funded by an increase in the penalties paid by delinquent taxpayers. This year, revenue was $1.6 million.

The first funds were collected in March when taxes were due. By year’s end, the land bank is expected to have acquired 200 to 250 properties. About 50 percent are vacant lots which are sold to adjacent property owners for $100 and court costs, or to other residents for fair market value. Another 30 percent met the wrecking ball and about 19 percent will be renovated.

The land bank recently provided the City of Toledo with $500,000 for demolitions for the year May, 2011 to May 2012. The funding helped the city set a record of 410 demolitions, up from last year’s 352, Mann said in a later interview. Still, there are more than 600 houses on the demolition list and Mann estimates there are 2,000 to 3,000 properties that will not be viable again. “They are either in a state of total disrepair or they will be there quickly,” he said.

One of these homes, gutted by fire in December of 2008, was on Camden Street in East Toledo. It stood an empty dangerous shell until the city finally tore it down this fall. Mann said the city will turn the property over to the land bank after it obtains clear title from the bank and after it grades and seeds it. The land bank then will sell it to an adjacent property owner. 

“The problem throughout the Midwest is that we have a huge surplus of properties that no one is going to live in again for a very long time and it’s going to take a massive investment to get them back to just livable conditions. And, they’re dragging everybody’s property values down” he added.

Tearing down 400 to 500 houses a year will still not be sufficient to meet demand. Mann says the land bank is also hiring private demolition contractors. Sad to say that, in just a few years, the strategy to increase property values in East Toledo has morphed from renovating the worst house on the block to encourage neighbors to invest in their homes to tearing down the worst house to stabilize the neighborhood.

The land bank is also working with city and county officials to shave years off the foreclosure process and skip the Sheriff’s sale entirely.

The vacant housing problem is further compounded by two other trends. First, there’s a surplus in what is sometimes called “shadow inventory.” These are homes the owner intends to sell but is waiting for the market to improve or homes lenders are holding for fear of flooding the market and further driving down prices. In short, the pipeline of unsellable homes will be full for years to come. Second, as some elderly homeowners die, their heirs, many of whom no longer live in the old neighborhoods, don’t want the house, nor can they sell it.

While the problem of abandoned homes is more prevalent in the urban core, the land bank is also working to acquire and demolish one home in Oregon and two in Jerusalem Township.

Demolition is not the only strategy to increase property values. The land bank also renovates viable properties. One such home faces St. Stephen’s Church in the Birmingham neighborhood. In addition, Kapszukiewicz wants to set aside $100,000 in a low-interest loan fund for residents to make home improvements.

If you own a home, hang in there, it’s still a bumpy ride

  
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