Ohio Residents Buy Properties To Fight 'Flippers'

"Trying to keep strategically valuable properties out of the hands of banks and investors, some communities are starting to head them off at the sheriff's auction."

"In July, a group of impromptu investors - all College Hill residents or business owners - offered $85,000 for a former office supply store just north of Cedar Avenue in the Hamilton Avenue business district. They outbid Wesbanco Inc., which foreclosed on the previous owner after he defaulted on a $100,000 loan."

"'We didn't want to leave it up in the air for who-knows-who would buy it,' says Elizabeth Sherwood, president of the College Hill Forum and one of nine investors in Streetcar Properties LLC."