The first of the 300 homes to be torn down using Moving Ohio Forward grant money should come down within two months.

Last week, contractors spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday touring 17 vacant and abandoned homes throughout the city. But some of the worst housing is grouped in the city’s South End “and that area will ultimately end up with more demos,” said Doug Adkins, Middletown Community Revitalization Director.

“It will take every bit of 2013 to get them done,” Adkins said of the demolitions.

According to the terms of the Moving Ohio Forward grant, the city must get all 300 homes demolished by the end of the year, said Kyle Fuchs, Middletown’s HUD Program Administrator.

“We’re working hard to do it,” Fuchs said. “We have limited staff, but we have everybody working.”

The grant comes from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which received the state’s $335 million payment of a federal multi-billion dollar settlement with five of the nation’s largest mortgage providers. The attorney general committed $75 million to the Moving Ohio Forward Grant Program to demolish vacant and abandoned properties. The money was to be divided among the state’s 88 counties.

Butler County received $2.7 million, which is being split between Middletown and Hamilton. Middletown City Council voted this summer to accept the $1.35 million grant and match it with the required $1.1 million.

Bids for the city contract will be due this coming week for the homes contractors toured last week. After an asbestos report is received from Hamilton County, they will have a little more than a month to tear the house down and clear out the debris.

“They have about 45 days from the time the bid is open,” Fuchs said.

The cost of the demolitions is dependant on a number of factors, including the size of the home, amount of asbestos, and amount of stuff inside the house and, if applicable, garage. But Adkins said the average demolition cost, however, is around $7,000 to $8,000.

Fuchs said some of the lots are owned by the city, others are foreclosed and abandoned. Once they are down, they become vacant lots and city officials will work with neighbors about acquiring the land to expand their yards, he said.

To access the homes, Fuchs has his “master keys” — a crowbar, mallet and cordless drill — to remove any boards covering doors, or pry open any locked door. Some doors are already unlocked.

Kyle McMonigle, of McMonigle Brothers, toured his first home at 3100 Yale Drive on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s a blight on Middletown and they have to be taken down to improve the values of the homes next to them,” he said. “It’s a plus to the neighborhood.”

Tearing down the houses is the easy part, McMonigle said.

“We have an excavator and you just start crunching it down,” he said. “It doesn’t take too long tearing the house down; just loading it up, getting rid of all the debris takes a lot of time.”

But one thing contractors need to be wary of, said Mary Lou Becker, owner of Vickers Wrecking, is neighboring homes.

“Some of them are close, very close, so you have to watch the other houses so you don’t damage that,” she said.

The houses contractors toured had old clothes and wrecked furniture in many rooms, broken glass and light bulbs, hanging ceiling tiles, and smashed sinks and toilets.

“They’re pretty bad, they need to come down,” said Becker, who’s company was contracted last year by the city for the partial razing of the Orman building on Tytus Avenue. “They’ve got quite a few of them. It will help.”

Once bids are opened and contracts awarded, Fuchs said it will be time for the next group of homes to be toured.

An approved list of contractors will be notified of the specific homes, and they are required be at the walk through, Fuchs said.