As the state continues to buy out more vacant homes and lots through the Road Home program, parish leaders said it could be months before the abandoned property ever makes its way back into the community.

According to an official with the Road Home program, Jefferson Parish residents have sold 40 homes to the state, residents in Orleans Parish close to 700 and more than 1,000 homes have been sold by St. Bernard residents.

But thousands of other homeowners said they’re interested in selling, too, and parishes stand to make a big profit.

The abandoned homes remain one of the most visible casualties of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans resident Hazel Crutchfield said it’s affected her property value.

"Even if we tried to sell this house, we wouldn't get too much for it,” Crutchfield said.

But many of the vacant homes in southeast Louisiana are now owned by the state and thousands more could soon be as well, purchased through the Road Home program. Parish leaders said they’re trying to get that property back into the hands of a community looking to rebuild.

“Some of these lots are going to be green space, some of these lots are going to be saved for recreation, some will be sold to adjacent property owners,” said Henry ‘Junior’ Rodriguez, St. Bernard Parish President.

But Rodriguez doesn’t know just when that can happen. He said St. Bernard was still in talks with the state and added that depending on how that goes, his parish may not even want the vacant properties.

"The parish does not want the lots unless the slabs are clean and the houses gone," he said.

Rodriguez said St. Bernard cannot afford to take on the demolition themselves, even if they are able to sell back the property to the community.

And Orleans Parish is expected to acquire as many as 7,000 vacant homes of their own through the Road Home, and non-profit groups all the way to home owners will have the chance to buy up the property.

“No group will be left out of the process because there will be opportunities for individuals all the way to developers,” said Joseph E. Williams, Executive Director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority.

But it could be at least four months before parishes ever receive ownership of the vacant properties.

The plan is still in the beginning stages, but neighbors are already getting anxious.

"If that happens, more people will come back. You'll have more in the neighborhood,” Crutchfield said.

New Orleans will hold a forum in two weeks to get public input on how to best bring these vacant lots back into the community. On Wednesday, Jefferson Parish will hold a similar forum, although their preliminary plan calls for auctioning off the lots to the highest bidder, after reserving some of their 40 Road Home properties for public space.