I stopped over at Friendship Park this morning to check out the condition of the play equipment and it’s pretty much covered with graffiti. Fairview Park only has 1 small thing to cleanup. I saw a few stop signs that need some cleaning as well.
If you see graffiti happening, get the camera, get the videocamera and call the police. These people are taking significant money out of your pocket in the form of the value of your house. According to the National Association of Realtors, property located within a community where there is graffiti will lose 15 percent of its value. Say your house is worth $180,000. That’s like somebody breaking down your door and taking $27,000.00 from you. If the graffiti is profane or hateful, the property owner can expect to lose up to 25 percent of the home’s value. That’s a $45,000 robbery.
This is not a victimless crime. Homeowners are the victims here. It’s spring, it’s the time when for sale signs go up and potential new neighbors are cruising the neighborhood. Are they going to pass when they see graffiti on stop signs? Are they going to look elsewhere when they stop to check out the neighborhood playground and see that filth? Probably.
So what’s going to happen to that house for sale? It’s going to sell for less. What happens when you need to move to take that new job or you are expecting another baby and need more space and that house becomes the comp on which the value of your house is determined? It’s going to come out of your pocket.
Be on the lookout for graffiti. Ideally they get caught and prosecuted. At least we can clean it up quickly because graffiti spreads like a rash. Trash, broken windows and abandoned cars are next. Stop graffiti in it’s tracks before it’s too late for your property value.