Erie Realtor® Works with Area Land Banks to Sell Vacant Properties to Increase Housing Supply

The Erie Land Bank and the Erie County Land Bank are working with local Realtors® to put vacant properties back on the market.

Patrick Groner, broker of Pennington Lines Real Estate in Erie, said they’ve requested that the land banks work with Realtors® to list properties for quite some time.

Initially, the land banks razed properties that could not be saved. Then, they began looking at properties that could be redeveloped and marketing them on their own websites.

“Their websites are very isolated with no real exposure to the broader market. After more than a year, they finally decided to consider working with us to market some properties,” Groner said.

Groner said the land banks put out a request for proposals, and then staff interviewed him and another agent. Groner and fellow Realtor® John Easter were selected to market the properties with a one-year contract.

The two land banks have about 125 properties. They’ve created a set of standards for companies and individuals interested in developing these properties.

“They established criteria for those purchasing the properties, so they know the expectations. The properties are listed at a good price, and sometimes people come along with a big vision and then fall short, which continues the cycle of blight,” Groner said.

There haven’t been many new homes built in the city of Erie in the past several years.

“This is a different perspective. These properties have the potential to increase the available inventory in the market, especially when there isn’t a lot of new construction happening. They can be redeveloped at a third of the cost of building a new structure,” he added.

“There’s no shortage of talk about the lack of affordable housing. This is exciting because we’ve had so many roundtables talking about how to increase housing inventory, and this actually adds to the supply.”

Groner said these transactions are more work than a normal one. They review the properties, market them and screen potential buyers to see if they meet the land bank’s criteria. So far, the properties are modestly priced between $28,000 and $32,500.

“You have to be partly motivated by making a contribution to your community and helping to find a solution to the inventory shortage,” he said. “There is a commission at the end, but it’s modest, especially when you consider the amount of time we’ve invested in the transaction but we’re okay with that.”

Groner sees this as a potential solution for other communities where there are land banks that have properties. “If we’re able to do this, other communities can too.”