Everyone has had a vacant home in their neighborhood at some point or another. Often when homes are sold there can be a couple of months between the old owners moving out and the new owners taking occupancy. This rarely has an effect on the quality of life or on the property value of the surrounding neighborhood. This is not the case with long term vacancies. 

Long term vacancies are usually the result of either an elderly occupant passing away, or moving into a long term care facility, or of financial difficulties of the owner. In either circumstance the maintenance and care of the home slips considerably, sometime enough to affect the surrounding homeowners. “The Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research group, estimates that a home’s value is reduced by about 1% for every home that is foreclosed on or sits vacant in the neighborhood.”  The amount of the reduction in value can increase exponentially if there are multiple uncared for properties.

Vacant homes can also lead to a decline in care and maintenance of other homes in the neighborhood. People who take pride in the appearance of their home can loose enthusiasm if all their hard work is negated by the shabby condition of a neighbor’s home. The more homes that let exterior maintenance slip, the more pervasive the condition becomes. 

What can you do if you fear the effect a vacant home may have on your property value? You can start by attempting to contact the owner, the bank, or the realtor for the property. There is no guarantee that anything will be done to improve the appearance of the property, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. A seller should have as much interest as you do in maintaining neighborhood property values. 

If the current owner of the property is unwilling or unable to improve the condition of the home you may want to enlist the help of other conscientious neighbors who are likely to have the same concerns that you do. Tasks like picking up newspapers, flyers, and junk mail, mowing the lawn, and keeping the walkway cleared of snow and debris could be shared among willing neighbors. In addition to making the vacant home more appealing to potential buyers you may want to make it less appealing to vandals and squatters by pointing some motion detector lights at the property to discourage intruders.