Ravenna is where Portage County’s paperwork happens
Ravenna is the Portage County seat, and most of the offices a seller deals with are here:
- Portage County Probate Court, 203 W. Main St., where estates are opened and executors are appointed.
- Portage County Justice Center, 8240 Infirmary Rd., where delinquent-tax foreclosure sales may be held in person.
- The County Auditor, which records transfers and collects the conveyance fee.
If you’re handling a parent’s estate from out of town, that’s handy: the court, the title work and the house can all be in one place. Our Portage County probate court guide explains the filings, and the Portage County page covers sheriff sales and tax liens.
Ravenna’s rental housing certificate
The city regulates rentals through its Building Department at 530 N. Freedom St. Under Ordinance 1476.05, the owner has to keep the property up to the city’s Property Maintenance and Housing Code. The city’s rental application, revised in August 2019, sets out the program:
| Item | What the application says |
|---|---|
| Renewal | Every two years, with an inspection |
| 1- and 2-unit rentals | $40 standard inspection fee per parcel |
| 3 or more units | $20 per unit |
| New rentals | $100 added to the standard fee |
| Repairs | Violations corrected within 30 days of inspection |
| Lapsed certificate | Treated as a new rental |
The fees may have changed since 2019, so call 330-296-5607 to confirm.
For a sale, the practical point is simple: a buyer who keeps renting will want to know the certificate is current and what the last inspection found. If it lapsed or failed, we can still buy the house as-is. See selling a rental property for the rest of a landlord’s checklist.
Older homes in the city
Ravenna was founded by Benjamin Tappan, who arrived in 1799 to claim land in his father’s name, and it was named after Ravenna, Italy. The downtown got a $3 million facelift in the late 1990s to keep its older architecture.
The housing is older and more rented than the county as a whole. In the Census ACS:
- The city’s median build year is 1960, against 1977 countywide.
- About 27% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier.
- About 47% are owner-occupied, and about 54% are single-family detached.
Older houses bring the usual issues: original wiring, old plumbing, and foundations that have moved. Our page on selling a house that needs work covers how repairs affect price.
The city and Ravenna Township are different markets
Ravenna Township surrounds the city, and the numbers look nothing alike. The township has about 9,000 residents, about 84% owner-occupancy and a median build year of 1982. About 27% of its homes are mobile homes, compared with about 1% in the city.
Roads tie the two together. State Routes 59, 44, 14 and 88 meet in Ravenna, and I-76 Exit 38, at SR 5 and SR 44, sits just south in Rootstown Township. Students in the city attend the Ravenna School District.
Selling a Ravenna house to an Akron buyer
Our office is in Akron, on East Turkeyfoot Lake Road, and Ravenna is a short drive east on I-76. Bob Donahue walks the house in 15 to 20 minutes, and we put the offer in writing with the repair costs we counted. Closing goes through a local title company, in as little as 7 days or on your date. If you’d like a number on a Ravenna house, send us the address.