The watch works behind the name
The Dueber name goes back to the factories that once made Canton one of America’s watchmaking towns. John C. Dueber founded the Dueber Watch Case Company in Cincinnati in 1864 and later bought control of the Hampden Watch Company. In 1888 he moved both firms to Canton, into a pair of factory buildings.
The move reshaped the city. In their first year in Canton the two companies employed 2,300 local residents, when the whole city counted 26,337 people in the 1890 census. They merged in 1923 as the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company, went into receivership in 1927 and stopped operating in Canton in 1930. Amtorg, a Soviet buying agency, bought the machinery and shipped it to Moscow. The brick factory complex, more than 20 acres with a 150-foot clock tower, was later torn down to make way for Interstate 77.
What sellers in southwest Canton are usually dealing with
Canton’s housing is old, and age shapes a sale here more than anything else. Canton’s median home was built in 1947, and 41% of the city’s homes date from 1939 or earlier, according to Census estimates. Fewer than half of Canton’s homes are owner-occupied, so many sellers on these blocks are landlords or heirs rather than people moving across town.
The questions we hear most from that kind of seller:
- An estate house: a parent’s home, often full, with probate still open. See selling an inherited house.
- A rental: a tenant in place, or a unit that has sat empty between tenants. See selling a house with tenants.
- A long repair list: roof, furnace, wiring and a wet basement. See selling a house that needs work.
City help if you plan to stay
If you would rather fix the house than sell it, Canton has programs for owners. The city’s Rehabilitation Division, at Canton City Hall, 218 Cleveland Avenue SW, offers repair programs for residents and takes appointments at 330-489-3040. Community Building Partnership lists the city’s options as including emergency repair, minor home repair, roof replacement and veterans home repair.
The division says it has an overwhelming number of applicants, so these programs suit owners who have time. If you need to sell soon, or the repairs are beyond what a program covers, a direct sale removes the repair question entirely.
Pricing an older house here
Pricing an older southwest Canton house is hard because condition varies so much from one house to the next. A renovated house on the same street can sell for far more than one that needs everything. That gap is the reason to get more than one number.
Ask an agent what the house would sell for after repairs and what those repairs would cost. Then compare that with a written as-is offer. We explain how we reached our number, and if listing comes out ahead for you, we’ll say so. Our Canton housing market guide has citywide prices, and how it works lays out our steps.