Do you have lots of empty houses where you live?

[spinbaby]

I suddenly realized as I was driving yesterday that we have empty houses all over town--three in our neighborhood alone. This would less remarkable if this were an area that had been hit hard by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, but here in southwestern PA, we were supposedly spared. How is it where you live?

[MoeHayNow]

1. More than I care to count.

Two houses within my line of sight are both sitting empty. One of them is right next door.
The house next to mine was owned by a young couple who got caught up in the big shitpile and left under cover of darkness and completely unbeknownst to anyone, but the signs were there: getting rid of the dog, having a garage sale, trucks coming and going moving couches and things. Mowed the grass in that yard all last summer just so it wouldn't look "so bad" to have an empty house next door to mine.

The other one is kitty-corner in the backyard. I talked to the neighbor in back of me and he said they had long since decided to "retire to Florida" and weren't going to let owning a house (that they likely wouldn't be able to sell) in Michigan stop them, so they sent some jingle mail to their bank.

[limit18]

2. No,it's actually hard to find an empty house.

[tcfrogs]

3. I wouldn't know

I don't go peeking in my neighbors houses. :D

[demnan]

4. Bad

There are empty condos in my neighborhood. Across town where my Mom lives it is even worse. You see many yards where the grass is one or two feet high. A house on the corner was in foreclosure and there are several on her street that have had for sale signs up a long time. The combination of the housing crisis and the unfriendly atmosphere toward illegal immigrants in Prince William County VA has emptied the eastern part of the county. Three grocery stores in that part of the county recently closed too. It looks like a ghost town.

You wonder, where did everyone go?

[lisa58]

5. no - but the ones for sale aren't moving at all...

...so empty may be in our future

[panader0]

6. Amazingly, there are still new homes being built here.

Not as many as before, but still growing

[demmiblue]

7. I don't know about empty...

but there are a lot of houses on the market.

[AlCzervik]

8. in my neighborhood right now there are more than a few and on my street there

was a foreclosure that sat empty for months and then someone bought it and moved in. One of my neighbors who was renting was moving out Saturday so i asked her why, turns out the person she was renting from just went in to foreclosure and she has to move out, that is the second time that house has been foreclosed on.

[fed-up]

9. empty house behind me-SIL of owner told me meth lab chemicals found under floorboards few years ago

says they were removed by local law enforcement-but house is not on list of meth lab bust houses (maybe because owner's SIL is a local cop??) or because there was not an actual bust-

rumor in the neighborhood was that previous tenants were sick from lead paint

I found out the truth from the owner a few weeks ago

he claims it will be torn down this spring

I just hope he doesn't torch it for the insurance money...


half a dozen other homes are for sale-empty-4 are foreclosures....

price keeps dropping.....

[asjr]

10. There have been many foreclosures

in my small town. Lots of houses are empty for one reason or another but what is absolutely cracking my mind is that those that are empty are for rent, but with astronomical rent rates. Also, businesses which have been here for eons are closing.

[nashville_brook]

11. there's whole developments/condos in central FL that are "empty" -- HOAs are suffering

b/c there's not enough people to support any maintenance.

my fiancé is a real estate attorney who does a lot with ferreting out mortgage fraud in South Florida. We were down there networking with some other lawyers recently, and they pointed out THREE "fraud towers." a set of three condos that are essentially empty b/c of a giant fraud scheme. the few people who are left are really suffering as there's so way to take care of the property without "association" fees.

[nashville_brook]

12. to clarify -- it's turning out that mortgage fraud is leading the way in some areas

in terms of empty property.

[juno jones]

13. Lots of empty ones in my old neighbor hood

They're all brand-spanking new too.

[spinbaby]

14. Ours are all older houses

Older houses in established neighborhoods. And we have three sitting vacant. Actually, thinking about it, there's a fourth essentially vacant--the old lady next door couldn't afford to heat her house last winter and went to live with her daughter. She's been there ever since but her son in-law's been taking care of the house so it doesn't look obviously vacant. Of the three houses that are obviously vacant (high grass and blank windows) in our neighborhood, I know that two are estate houses that the heirs haven't been able to sell. Not expensive houses, mind you, they're priced under $50,000.

[juno jones]

18. Damn! Wish I could get a house that cheap here.

Then again, if the new construction glut doesn't sell at outrageously jacked prices, they'll have to drop prices sooner or later.

Stupid thing is, they're still building MORE!

[slackmaster]

15. There was one on my block, but it's occupied now

I believe the previous owner died.

[fascisthunter]

16. There are a Couple in My Neighborhood

I'm sure the right wingers will claim there is no such thing in their neighborhoods.

[Warpy]

17. Houses in my immediate area are still selling

and I get come ons from flippers at least once a month. However, in the newer areas of the city, there are a lot of empty places, some of which have been empty since they were constructed, bought by out of state speculators.

My own area saw a cluster of foreclosures three years ago, undoubtedly the last ARMs written for this area. There is one condemned house and attached 4 unit apartment building three blocks from me, but otherwise, things are selling too quickly to remain unoccupied.