CANFIELD, Ohio – The auction Wednesday of nine lots in the Westbury Park development might be a harbinger of a recovering residential real estate market in the Mahoning Valley.
The man who conducted the auction at Timber Run and Grayson drives, Chris Roman, declared it ”successful,” as well he might. Roman is an auctioneer-Realtor with Roman Realty Ltd., Canfield.
The nine lots combined brought in $232,000, well above the minimum acceptable total of $134,000 ($14,889 each). One bidder offered that sum for all nine; he stood firm on the bulk package and no one followed his lead.
The lots have an appraised value of $200,700 ($22,300 each), most of which will go to the Home Savings and Loan Co., which foreclosed on T.C. Neighborhoods Ltd. T.C. Neighborhoods has since gone out of business.
Seventy-five to 80 neighbors and their children from Grayson Drive and nearby streets, perhaps brought out by the sunny weather in the 70s, watched with interest as 21 registered to bid. Most who registered participated, Roman said afterward.
“I’m very satisfied,” he said. “We had very good attendance. We had good bidder participation.”
The highest offer was $31,000 for the fourth lot Roman presented, followed by $29,000 on the first lot on the auction block. Next highest winning bids for single lots were $27,000, $26,000, $25,000 and $22,000.
The remaining four went for $76,000; Sam Pitzulo, owner of Sam Pitzulo Homes, opted to buy the quartet at $19,000 each as was his option under the rules.
And it was over -- except for the six successful bidders signing legal papers and presenting or writing their checks.
The bidders thought they made wise purchases although three declined to identify themselves to a reporter or say much else. One willing to talk was Ryan Bodine of Austintown, who said he bought a lot last year through Roman Realty and built a house on that property.
He must sell that home before he can move. He estimates it will be two to five years before he builds and moves into the colonial house he has in mind.
Adam and Kristina Tokash of Boardman know many of the residents in the Westbury Park development, the husband said, which is why they bid on the corner lot for which they offered $31,000. The Tokashes have “a couple of different houses in mind,” Adam Tokash said, and a home to sell before they move to Canfield.
Pitzullo seemed pleased with his purchase, three adjoining lots separated by his fourth on Grayson. He expects it will be “a couple of years” before he finds the last of four families to buy the lots and build on them. He pointed to a house on Barrington, a two-minute walk away, and told how he built the residence on that lot before the Great Recession -- and that the owner paid $58,000 for just the land.
Of the winning bids, Roman remarked, “They’re very realistic prices in today’s market.”
He will conduct a similar auction in Liberty Township toward the end of this month, he announced.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.