Suggestion re: People Selling Homes in Our City

[Mark Crnolatas]

Regarding all the For Sale signs, that some people say is normal, others are saying are at abnormally high amounts: 1) What the facts might be, and what is perceived might not be the same thing. I live on a major street that people enter our city from I-90 and Cleveland. One of the "first impressions" as one drives north, is the For Sale signs , and if you glance down the side streets, if your drive down the side streets, my perception is yes, there seems to be many more signs for sale than I can remember at any one time ever.

2) Why not someone send or leave a short questionnaire, for each of the homes for sale, asking why they are selling their homes, what would it take to not sell their home here, and allow them to be anonymous, with the return address going to the L.O. ?
Maybe some answers would give some hard facts, for City Hall , and also down to those of us who just want to help keep our city, as we would like it to be, armed with some facts right from the people that feel there are shortcomings, if in fact that might be a reason, and give us all an idea what has to be done from the homeowner perspective that maybe "had enough".
Of what, is the question.
Just a thought.

Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

[Thomas J. George]

Mark-

In response to your concerns about homes for sale in Lakewood, there are good sources of data on this subject.

The Cleveland Area Board of Realtors is one good source. Most recent data, published less than two months ago, shows Lakewood to be typical of the flat housing market in the northeast Ohio area.

As of June 30, 2005 there were 227 homes in Lakewood sold at an average sale price of $166,783. In 2004 during the same first six months period, there were 201 homes sold at an average sale price of $164,625.
As of June 30, there were 259 homes listed for sale in Lakewood.

Many smaller suburbs had even MORE homes for sale and MORE listed during these same periods.

Cleveland Hts., for instance, had 326 homes sold in 2005 and 314 in 2004 during the first six months of those years. Cleveland Hts. had 394 homes listed for sale as of June 30, 2005.

Euclid had 315 homes sold during the first six months of 2004 and 335 for the first six months of 2004. As of June 30, Euclid had 354 homes on the market.

Strongsville, with much new construction, had 275 homes sold in the first six months of 2005 and 249 sold in the first six months of 2004. Strongsville had 259 homes listed for sale as of June 30 this year, the same number as Lakewood.

Rocky River had 135 homes listed for sale as of June 30, Bay Village 112, Westlake, 182....considering the populations of those communities (1/2 or 1/3 the size of Lakewood) as compared to Lakewood's, need I say Lakewood is actually faring better in regards to number of homes for sale.

Mark, I assure you we at City Hall take housing concerns very seriously. The housing professionals in our Building Department amaze me every day with their knowledge of Lakewood housing, housing trends, and new housing initiatives.

As I've stated often on this board, it is important to keep Lakewood's statistics, whether they be regarding crime, housing, schools or other important issues, in context with trends and data throughout the region and country.

In that manner, the solutions we devise to address specific concerns can be tailored directly to Lakewood's problems rather than broad brush approaches with some pr value, but little lasting effectiveness.

TJG

[Mark Crnolatas]

Thanks for the update and taking the time to post too, Mayor George. Being a hardcore Lakewoodite, born, raised, breaded and buttered here, so to speak, (as many on this forum are), it's good to know, that in that context, we're doing ok in that area.

Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

[Jim O'Bryan]

Thanks for the update and taking the time to post too, Mayor George. Being a hardcore Lakewoodite, born, raised, breaded and buttered here, so to speak, (as many on this forum are), it's good to know, that in that context, we're doing ok in that area.

Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

Mark

I second your kind words to the mayor.

The rumor is, they can't give away a home in Fairview Park.

Meanwhile, Lakewood has been picked the best city in the county, and the county as the best place to live in America.

Turn your frown upside down and get positive.


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[Jennifer Desilets]

As a homeowner on Clifton Blvd, I don't find the "For Sale" signs as disturbing, as the "For Rent" signs that litter Clifton Blvd! There is hardly a front yard without one, and the multi unit rentals never take the signs down. It really makes the neighborhood look transient. I have had a number of out-of-town guests comment about the signs, one of whom is a Realtor.

I understand that there are many rental units in Lakewood, and that it is competitive to fill them. BUT, I doubt that a cheap neon orange sign stapled to a stick on a tree lawn is a highly effective method of advertising. Truly, most people find rentals from ads in a "penny-saver" or rental guide that are free. It may be less expensive to go to Home Depot a buy a cheap sign, but I suspect that the property owners are running ads also - because they are most effective.

It should not just be the concern of homeowners that the many vacancy signs (sale or rental) make our great neighborhood look transient and unpopular. It is all of our concern - who would want to buy or rent, or do business in a neighborhood that looks like everyone is fleeing. Its long been a fact that empty stores hurt nearby businesses and in turn breed more empty stores. I'm not suggesting that there are a lot of empty houses/apartments in Lakewood, but that is the impression that the excessive number of signs creates.

I think the citizens of Lakewood would better attract prospective renters and homeowners without signs - maybe they would notice all the great architecture of the houses and apartment buildings, and the beautiful old trees, and all the efforts people make to keep up their yards - this would give the impression of the true character of Lakewood.

I hope that property owners will give this some thought, if not, perhaps some city ordinances are needed!

[Jim O'Bryan]

...I hope that property owners will give this some thought, if not, perhaps some city ordinances are needed!

Can't speak for all but I am what many refer to as OLD LAKEWOOD, that is we go by word of mouth in renting our house.

Some of us have adopted a policy of working to "draft" in good neighbors but it could no way get rid of all the for rent signs.

The biggest problem with rentals is the low cost for a loan.

But a very nice note, thanks.



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[Mark Schroeder]

Let me be clear and to the point: I hate the yard signs.

Dawn and I lived in Oak Park, IL before moving back to Lakewood in '96.

Oak Park had gone through an economic downturn in the early '80s and had responded with a local ordinance banning lawn signs.

The result was that the suburb was freed of the unnecessary blight of yard signs.

People searching for homes do so primarily through realtors and the Internet. All yard signs do is alert your neighbors of your impending move.

Not a burning issue with me in the grand scheme of things, but wouldn't Lakewood be more beautiful without all the For Sale and For Rent signs??

[Kevin Butler]

Not a burning issue with me in the grand scheme of things, but wouldn't Lakewood be more beautiful without all the For Sale and For Rent signs??

And the political signs too, if I may say so myself.

[Rick Uldricks]

My wife and I researched selling our home on Wyandotte between Athens and Lakewood Hts in October. Our Realtor told us to wait because there were so many houses for sale in Lakewood in the price range we were asking. There were over 80 homes for sale in this price range so getting what we felt was a fair selling price could be very difficult. Also, he explained that what was paid for a home may not always reflect the actual asking price. Many homes had been on the market for extended periods of time and the Realtor had reduced the asking price.

Our Realtor had inquired about why we wanted to move. Our number one reason was that we are noticing a decline in the neighborhood. People are more inconsiderate, we notice suspicious people in the neighborhood frequently, older, poorly maintained (loud) vehicles race down our street all the time, etc. The road construction project on Wyandotte also helped our decision to move. Our Realtor had a plausible explanation for the decline - it has to do with the fact that prices are being lowered not only for homes, but for the rental properties also. Because of the lower prices, people who could not previously afford to live in Lakewood can now. This shift doesn't have anything to do with " " flight - it's just simple economics.

Hopefully, Lakewood will become more of a 'sellers' and 'landlord' market come spring.