Neglected real estate listings create eyesores
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By SUZETTE HACKNEY Detroit Free Press - Published: July 1, 2007
DETROIT — Psssst! Curb appeal really does matter.
Yet with the glut of empty houses — both for sale and foreclosed — unkempt properties can be widely found. Instead of homes with neat lawns, trimmed shrubs and bright flowers in place, neighbors and potential buyers contend with thigh-high grass, busted shutters, falling roof shingles and litter, debris and mailers all over the porch, lawn and curb.
Ultimately, that mess decreases everyone's property value.
"If you're not taking care of the house, it is certainly detracting from street appeal, and that is something that could harm any potential sale of the home," said Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. "It's certainly in the interest of the owner to maintain [the home] so that people will want to go inside."
Molony said the contracts between sellers and agents dictate who cares for vacant properties, but it is unusual for agents to take on such a responsibility, especially in markets with a high inventory.
According to the National Association of Homebuilders, as many as 1.4 million new housing units are sitting vacant, an all-time high. And nationwide, 3.75 million existing homes were for sale at the end of March, the National Association of Realtors reported. That was a 7.3-month supply at the current slow sales pace, compared with a 6.8-month supply in February.
Job transfers, sellers who already have purchased another house and moved, and those who have lost their homes to foreclosure are all culprits for unsold properties sitting empty. Coupled with an overall sluggish market and decreasing home values, serious buyers are having a heyday. They expect more for less and can demand it or take their dollars elsewhere.
So there's no debate among real estate professionals that any house on the market should be in the best possible shape. And even though their names may appear on the signs outside homes, agents can — and will — only do so much.
"When people look at a street and they find foreclosures and uncared-for vacant properties, it decreases the value of surrounding homes — that is a statistical fact," said Keith Weber, an agent who markets homes in southern Oakland County, Mich. "Sure, I'll mow a lawn, and you won't talk to an agent who says they don't. It may not be my responsibility, but it is my reflection."
In Sacramento, Calif., thousands of unsold and empty houses are becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes because of uncared-for swimming pools, garden ponds and yards flooded by broken sprinklers.
Earlier this month, 6,500 real estate agents received e-mail from the Sacramento Association of Realtors encouraging them to report any standing water, fountains, pools or ponds as they show homes for sale or visit unoccupied properties.
Weber said he recommends that homeowners hire a company or individual to keep up home maintenance if they must vacate the property, but sellers often get discouraged by the length of time it takes to sell or become resigned that nothing will help push the property.
Foreclosures, he said, are a different concern. Often the homeowners have been forced out of the house and don't have the resources to keep things up. Still, some banks are pretty attentive to foreclosed properties and contract with companies to care for their inventory, he said.
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