About a year ago I was talking to my neighbor's wife. She mentioned her and her husband were separating. They have one kid together. She also mentioned she didn't know how things would go, but her husband would probably lose the house. I didn't really pry into their personal matters.

Well, as I write this the husband has a crew and is moving out. He's obviously leaving but I don't see any for sale signs (and judging by what i know I probably won't) and i'm guessing he's just giving up on the house.

So I will have a vacant house across the street. My question is what to do about it. Should I maintain the lawn, for example, so it won't be so obvious to thieves the house is vacant? Or should I say ' not my problem' and just let the bank handle it. I'm not too terribly concerned about the value of my house right now, as we are not planning to move for a while. But I am wondering, if the house sits vacant long enough, what the long term implications will be.

And as a side note, how accurate are Zillow estimates?

Here in Ohio you can check the County Clerk of Courts website and look up the homeowner, see if there is a foreclosure in process. You can also check the County Auditor's website to see who the current owner is, which would tell you if the bank has already taken it back. Not sure about other states.

As far as maintaining the property, the bank may have an issue with it, but generally I wouldn't think they would really care as it is less hassle for them. As far as the home being vacant, if it is similar to yours (design, square footage, bed/bath counts, etc.) then it would be better if it is vacant rather than selling at a steep discount. The value of your home is dependent upon comparable homes that have sold. If your market has a high percentage of foreclosures, then that is the market. On the other hand, if foreclosures don't make up a good portion of the market then it is possible an appraiser would not use that sale as a comparable.

Zillow, the "zestimate" that it gives is pretty useless. I would pay more attention to the RECENTLY SOLD properties that it shows. Compare square footage, bed/bath counts, lot size. Comparable home sales are what determine the properties value. Another resource is http://realestatecenter.bankofamerica.c ... value.aspx which will give you a range (sometimes a pretty wide range) for the property value. It will also give you a list of the homes it used as "comparables", although sometimes it is way off.

thanks, I know for sure it is foreclosure via clerk of courts site. I am in Cinci as well but I will not give further info for obvious reasons.

Be careful about performing maintenance on a property without the owner's permission. You could be charged with tresspassing, etc. Most likely, a bank would never bother doing that, but just be aware that there are risks. If the grass starts getting long, it may be better for you to report it to the city's health and inspections department for them to deal with. I kow in our town, if grass is over 12" long and the owner is not taking care of it, the city can hire a contractor to perform the work and bill it to the property owner, in this case, the bank. Also, make a point to promptly report any vandalism to the city, as the bank probably will never really visit the property, and vandalism is something that CAN affect the perceived safety of a neighborhood.

A vacant or foreclosed house will not really affect you unless you are trying to sell.

wannabe is right about possibly trespassing. But another thing to consider is that if you have a neighborhood association then ANYONE in control of the property must follow the rules. That means the HOA can force the bank to mow the lawn etc. It might be difficult and you would likely be ignored but that is the job of the HOA.

Realistically though, I wouldn't worry about it. Almost evry neighborhood has vacant house in it.

Yeah, we've had one for a while and literally someone just moved into it right after the New Year. Thought we had it all covered...