As the economy continues its downward spiral and banks are now being forced to foreclose millions more residential and commercial properties across the country, the number of vacant buildings of all types is going to increase exponentially from current levels.

It doesn’t matter if you live in an upscale residential neighborhood, have a business in a strip mall, or if you work in an industrial area; you are going to see a substantial increase in the number of vacant buildings. And, with this inevitable increase comes the increase in dangers and problems that accompany vacant buildings.

VACANT RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS commonly attract all types of undesirables.

Primary among these undesirables are vagrants, who use vacant homes or apartments as temporary housing. Along with them, vagrants bring their own problems, including:

1. Illegal electrical connections to the power company. This creates a very real threat of the increased chance of a house fire, which frequently involves and damages surrounding homes and threatens the lives of their occupants.

2. Unsanitary conditions, such as improperly refrigerated and discarded food, which attracts insects, rats, mice, and other rodents to that home, as well as to the surrounding homes.

3. Unsanitary conditions, such as lack of water for the proper sanitary disposal of human waste, which attracts various types of insects, but, more importantly, presents a serious public health hazard.

4. Then, there is increased crime in the form of illegal drug deals, property theft, assaults, child molestation, and others.

Vacant residential buildings also tend to attract groups of teens who commonly use vacant homes for parties, as well as their use of alcohol and illegal drugs. This uncontrolled, illegal activity inevitably leads to more serious problems, including:

1. Property damage caused by impaired drivers.

2. Assaults upon each other, as well as local residents.

3. Plus, attracting additional criminal elements, including drug dealers, that results from this type of uncontrolled activity.

Then, there are the drug dealers, prostitutes, the coyotes (those who traffic in illegal human smuggling), thieves who use vacant homes as storage facilities, and the list goes on.

THE EFFECT OF VACANT RESIDENTIAL HOMES on the neighborhoods they’re in is never good, and is frequently devastating in terms of both quality of life issues, as well as property values.

1. The appearance of a vacant home, with its growing pile of fliers and free magazines, etc.,on the front walk, its lack of landscape maintenance, and lack of lighting at night, all detract from the overall visual appearance of any neighborhood, and promotes an eerie and uncomfortable feeling about the area.

2. Crime and other negative activity, such as the presence of vagrants, noisy groups of teens, drug dealers, and the like, all bring down the quality of a neighborhood, and act like a repellant to prospective buyers with families.

3. A vacant home still has a negative psychological impact on neighbors and prospective buyers who still commonly see a neighborhood with a vacant home in a negative light. And, the more vacant homes on a street or in a given neighborhood, the greater the negative impact on prospective buyers.

Overall, these factors associated with vacant residential dwellings tends to bring down the value of all of the homes in a neighborhood.

SO, WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT VACANT RESIDENTIAL HOMES IN A NEIGHBORHOOD?

Many folks turn a blind eye to the obvious, and think, “This isn’t MY problem.” Well, I hate be the one to wake you up, but, it IS your problem, because a vacant house on your street or in your neighborhood will bring down the value of YOUR home unless YOU do something about it.

The following are some positive things that neighbors can do when they have a vacant house on their street or in their neighborhood.

1. The residents of the neighborhood can and should form a neighborhood watch group for the purpose of regularly patrolling the area in and around a vacant house. For their own personal safety, patrols should never be done alone, but in pairs or small groups, to see that the vacant house doesn’t become invaded by any person or group.

The watch group should be highly visible and arm themselves with video cameras, powerful flashlights, and cell phones to gather evidence and contact police when necessary. There’s nothing wrong with protecting a vacant house, because you are also protecting yours by doing so.

2. The neighbors in the watch group should physically go to their local police precinct to advise the local police that they are watching the vacant house, and request that the police patrol the area as frequently as their duties allow.

The neighbors should also advise the police, that they will contact the police if they observe suspicious or criminal activity, and expect the police will respond quickly. HOWEVER, the calling of the police should not be abused; remember the story of the boy who cried, “Wolf.”

3. The residents should also make it their business to share the maintenance of the landscaping by watering and clipping the plants regularly, mowing the lawn weekly, removing fliers and other items daily, shoveling snow and ice from the walks and driveways when necessary, and generally making the place look as if somebody lives there, to the extent possible.

Remember, the bank who has or is about to foreclose the property, may not have a reliable maintenance service to take care of the home. Moreover, that bank only cares about selling the home and getting it off their books; they really don’t care about the value of YOUR home.

4. Someone from the neighborhood should be selected to keep in weekly contact with either the foreclosing bank or their local real estate agent to be sure they are aware of what’s going on in the neighborhood as a result of their vacant house.

You will be amazed at how much attention a vacant house will get from a foreclosing bank and their real estate agent when the neighbors are in constant and regular contact. This is because the bank and agent know they, too, are being watched and may be held legally and financially accountable for any damage that might be caused as a result of their vacant house.

5. DO NOT ALLOW your children, or any other children to go near a vacant house or to play in its yard. It’s also a good idea not to let your own guard down, or to approach a vacant house alone. Remember, no matter how well a house is being watched, there is always the increased probability of unforeseen danger present from a vacant house.

In the end, vacant houses that are properly maintained and are known to be under the watchful eye of neighbors and the police are the least likely to attract criminals or other undesirables. So, maintenance of a vacant house is very important to preserving a safe neighborhood.

Maintenance of a vacant house also indicates to prospective buyers that the neighborhood is desirable, which creates a better chance of getting the home sold in a relatively short period of time, assuming all other things being conducive to making a sale are in place.

Additionally, criminals, vagrants, and groups of teens do not like to be caught on camera, and particularly do not like the attention of the police. Once it becomes known that a neighborhood is being “watched” by people with cameras who are diligent about calling the police, the incidence of undesirable activity should decline, if not disappear.

REMEMBER, IT’S YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. If you don’t act to protect it, no one else will.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 1:32 PM and is filed under Local Interest, Safety, Uncategorized, Valuation Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.