On a warm spring afternoon, thirty prospective buyers, a couple real estate agents, a home inspector and a mortgage broker pile into a bus in a Strongsville parking lot.
Pat Furey: Just a few things now. My name is Pat Furey. We want to thank you for coming on board our 'Foreclosure Bus.'
Furey and co-workers from Strongsville's ReMax Crossroads organized the bus tour complete with appointments to see houses in Cleveland's outer ring suburbs in various stages of foreclosure.
Pat Furey: We're going to see properties today from $117,5 up to $270 so that just makes us aware that foreclosure doesn't affect just one segment or another. It's across the board.
While it might be a great time to scoop up bargains, foreclosure is on the rise even in more affluent parts of the region. This year, for the first time ever, the United Way's foreclosure hotline got more calls from the suburbs than the city of Cleveland. Director Stephen Wertheim.
Stephen Wertheim: Now we're starting to see this move out and it's not surprising for us. Because we also serve Geauga and Medina counties and we are now getting calls from places like Bainbridge and Valley City in Medina.
Bank-owned houses are slowly selling in the suburbs, but there are also plenty sitting vacant for long periods of time. In North Olmsted, Mayor Thomas O'Grady says his city has added two building inspectors and beefed up building codes to monitor more than 90 bank-owned properties. The city is even reprioritizing which roads get paved by resurfacing streets with foreclosed properties on them first. The idea is to do everything they can to support property values.
Thomas O'Grady: Everything that we have done and everything that we will continue to do is dedicated towards the idea that we won't allow for an entire neighborhood or a section of a street to go down.
O'Grady says his city's financial situation is strong thanks to a diverse revenue stream which includes light industry to one of the region's large malls. But revenues are declining. Property taxes for the first half of 2007 are down by $200,000, but only $35,000 are considered delinquent. Income taxes are also down.
Thomas O'Grady: It's very troubling. We know, and we have known for years, that we needed to change and we needed to become more efficient. And we are doing more with less.
That's a statement many cities in the region can relate to. Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti heads the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association.
Martin Zanotti: We're starting to see now where cities are not forecasting increases in the property taxes for inflation because the foreclosures are just having a devastating impact on property values and communities and ultimately that will drive down property values and reduce the revenues that the cities will receive on an annual basis.
And a drop in property taxes can mean a hit for local schools. But Mayor O'Grady says he believes his city and school district are being proactive enough to avoid major cuts in services. He is confident the housing market will revive, eventually.
Thomas O'Grady: It was hoped that we might see a recovery by the end of this year but that's not going to be. Hopefully we will see a recovery by the end of next year. But I think it can be anticipated in 2009 that we would see actually a decrease in the value of homes. Now the thing is people need to understand is that they just need to sit tight and wait. Because this market will rebound.
Mhari Saito, 90.3.