No copper, only PVC – houses worth more as spare parts

Owners, or mortgage-holders of some homes in foreclosure, are resorting to that “No copper, only PVC” phrase as signs on the houses to try to prevent looting.

And, the prospect of refinancing homes that may not be altogether there, due to looting of copper, brass and aluminum, is scaring off even more banks that are already getting tighter with credit.

”f the appraiser spots something that is not right, like copper tubing lying on the floor or something missing a lot of wiring, that's a red flag to the buyer's bank. That will essentially melt down any transaction you've got,” real estate broker Jonathan Osman said.

“They don’t want to make a $200,000 loan on a house that has serious problems in case the buyer defaults and they are stuck with it,” he said in a telephone interview. “It stinks for the banks that have foreclosed on the property because they now have a house that they really can’t sell. They have nothing to do but auction it off for whatever they can get for it.”

With scrap copper running at $3.50 a pound, vs. 70 cents just a few years ago, boarded-up houses are a tempting target for low-level thieves.

I say “low-level” because ripping 50 pounds of copper out of a house — if you can find one with that much — would net you a whole $175.

And, guess where it’s all going? That’s right, the giant sucking sound across the Pacific.

A full 80 percent of stolen scrap copper is estimated to wind up in either China or India.

This has several fallouts, beyond the obvious one of essentially making the vandalized home unsellable.

First, it drives up crime in the area.

Second, especially if it’s aluminum siding being ripped off an exterior, it uglifies not just that house, but the surrounding neighborhood.

Both, of course, further drive down prices on remaining houses that may be up for foreclosure. The bank or other note-holder, if it’s stubborn, sits on the house longer, leaving it a more tempting, longer-lasting target for the same vandalism.