Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Local real estate officials say the trend is likely to continue.
It looks as if property values are increasing in the “City of Beautiful Homes.” That’s according to several indictors that show that property values — and home sales — saw a slight uptick in Lakewood in July. That’s good news for a region that has seen its home values take a beating during the past few years of the Great Recession. According to Zillow, a website that compiles real estate and property value data based on property sales and county records, both values and sales are up in Lakewood. The average value of Lakewood homes was listed at $113,000 in July. That’s up 1.6 percent from the previous year, according to the site. Brian Salem, of the Keller Williams Salem Team realty group, said that while he doesn’t always see eye-to-eye …
Friday, August 17, 2012
Rose Grace, 70, received a letter in the mail from the city's housing department in January, noting that she needed to fix up her aging home. The Lakewood United Methodist Church stepped in to help.
The new address numbers and the flag planted on the front porch at 1659 Elmwood Avenue were sort of a symbolic gesture. The real work to restore Rose Grace’s home has lasted several months, represented an estimated $20,000 worth of work and included countless volunteers. The project all began in May, when LakewoodAlive housing outreach supervisor Hilary Schickler put Grace in touch with the Lakewood United Methodist Church’s Faith in the Neighborhood program. On Thursday evening, they all came together to admire and reflect on the finished product. The Rev. Laura Jaissle led a brief blessing at the home, followed by a prayer. The church and LakewoodAlive presented Grace with a few gifts as well, including a bottle of sparkling grape …
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1659 Elmwood Ave, Lakewood, OH
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
City’s comprehensive housing survey doesn’t do enough to explain ratings, some Lakewood Patch readers say.
It seems that some residents who used Lakewood Patch’s housing database — with data collected by the city on more than 11,000 homes — have a few questions. About 1,700 homes in Lakewood need some help getting up to housing code, according to the city’s Residential Housing Survey. However, the data doesn’t explain why homeowners got their specific rating. That’s unsettling to some Lakewood Patch readers, who sounded off on Tuesday. Homes with one infraction were given an “almost meets (code)” rating. Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development, said those issues can include peeling paint, homes without a posted address or a cracked driveway. “It’s usually minor stuff,” he said. “We ask people to take a good, honest look at …
Friday, April 27, 2012
Residents applaud plan but are concerned it could hurt some of their neighbors
City of Lakewood officials and LakewoodAlive held a community forum Thursday to discuss their initiative that encourages homeowners to repair their properties and then provides them with assistance. While most residents who attended the meeting at Garfield Middle School agreed with the measure, several had concerns the new program could infringe a little too much upon their neighbors. LakewoodAlive hosted the forum entitled “Housing: A New Approach for a New Century” that looked at the city’s current housing and presented an update on the program “Housing Forward” which the city began implementing last year as collaboration between the city, non-profit organizations and residents. LakewoodAlive, along with other non-profit institutions, …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
It’s a big topic. Forum on Thursday night looks to address the issue.
Most Lakewood officials typically agree: Getting Lakewood’s aging housing stock ready for the next 100 years is one of the biggest challenges facing the city. LakewoodAlive is hosting a community forum — “Housing: A New Approach for a New Century” — to address that very issue. The event, open to the public, is slated to take place at Garfield Middle School at 7 p.m. Thursday. Ian Andrews, the executive director of LakewoodAlive, said that the city and the economic delveopment organization have partnered with homeowners and investors to fix code violations and provide resources to help stabilize the community. “Further strengthening our Lakewood’s housing stock is critically important for the success of this community,” Andrews said. “This …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Plans are in the works to sell them as single-family homes.
Looking to get rid of some rooming houses — as well as the uptick in crime that goes with them — the city approved the purchase of two of them on Wednesday night. The homes, at 1436 Grace Avenue and 1446 Mars Avenue, are among the last of the city’s boarding houses left in the city. There are only 11 remaining. At a special meeting, city council approved the purchase of both homes in a packaged deal, from Aivars and Anita S. Auzenbergs, for $207,000. The city used $150,000 from its land acquisition fund, and another approximately $67,000 from the general fund, to pay for the properties. The city will sell the homes — with new deed restrictions — as single-family homes. Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers said the city might even turn a …
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Of course, housing was wrapped up in all of them.
In his second State of the City address, Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers got right to the point, tackling some of the key issues facing the city. Summers talked about safety, economic development and the young and middle class demographic of the city. And he managned to tie them into the issue of maintaining and repairing the city's aging housing stock. Summers also briefly discussed "Lakewood's Dirty Secret." (Curious? Keep reading) Here are a few of the other highlights: Key trends: Lakewood’s getting younger — 48 percent of the population is between the ages of 25 and 49. “They bring an enormous amount of energy,” Summers said. “Lakewood is a middle class class community. We think that’s a great strength.” Summers didn’t dodge the fact …
The mayor told us on Monday what he thinks are the most pressing issues in Lakewood. What do you think? Tell us in our completely unscientific poll.
Following Mayor Michael Summers’ state of the city address on Monday, we learned some of the priorities at Lakewood City Hall. They include housing, crime, an aging sewer system and development. But we thought we'd ask what you thought are some of the most important issues in Lakewood. Take our poll! Then, share your thoughts in the comments.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Discussion tonight — at Lakewood Public Library — to discuss responsible backyard hen farming in Lakewood.
Can hens be responsibly raised in the backyard of Lakewood homes? That's the issue up for discussion at a public forum at Lakewood Public Library at 6:30 p.m. The forum — presented by Lakewood Earth and Food organization and Hens in Lakewood — will feature experts from the Ohio State University extension, veterinarians, local Realtors, family hen-keepers and local food advocates. April Stoltz, a member of the Hens in Lakewood organization, said the group is looking to educate the public about backyard hen-raising. “Our hope for this forum is that people will come with their excitement and their concerns," she said. "We want to show why Hens in Lakewood and the (Lakewood Earth and Food organization) want this. "For those folks who aren’t …
Friday, March 23, 2012
Research shows that landlords with “multiple” properties are the ones in trouble.
With more than 1,500 landlords in Lakewood, city hall is turning its attention to maintaining the rentals properties in the city. Part of the equation in dealing with the city’s aging housing stock is staying on top of the city’s landlords, said Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development. There are 32,000 housing units in Lakewood. More than half of them are rentals — 17,280 to be exact. Through analysis of the city’s recent housing survey, city officials learned that many Lakewood landlords own more than property. Those are the ones in trouble. “For the most part, of those 1,500 landlords, most of those folks own one, maybe two properties,” Siley said. “There are some who own groups of properties and all of those …
Steve
2:38 pm on Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday showed a gain of 0.5 percent from June 2011. It's what the home sells for, not listed for, which is always inflated as you all know. We are not seeing 1.6% in value added, now are we! more ›