Rules of the Road

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my thoughts on issues pertaining to Oil City and Venango County and to foster discussion.

However, that requires some basic rules. Personal attacks, inappropriate language and venom-filled postings will not be tolerated. Comments will be screened, and if necessary edited, before posting.

Disagreement and a variety of opinions are encouraged, but I ask that it always be in a respectful, positive manner. So fire away, but do so cleanly

Friday, January 9, 2009

A Must Read

The article in this morning's Derrick is a must read.

http://www.thederrick.com/Derrick/1.shtml

Please, take the time to read it.

I'll have more to say when I have the time
John

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The study takes a harsh view of what it describes as "slum landlords."

"With low acquisition prices, a steady stream of low-income customers lacking credit and savings to enter what is in fact an affordable first-time buyer market, aspiring retrograde landlords face no regulatory barriers in their efforts to obtain and further grind down properties already at the furthest ends of their useful lives," Buki said.

AMEN!! I have said this on this blog more than once. Some landlords (one blog contributor comes immediately to mind)don't want to hear it but this guy is right on target.

Strong medicine we need to hear in O.C. - that's for sure! Crappy neighborhoods attract crappy residents. Let the whining begin!

Anonymous said...

Please explain to me why a person (aka evil landlord) would invest money in a property and then let the property go go down?

Oil City loves to find scapegoats. Now we are back to owners of rental property.

Anonymous said...

"Please explain to me why a person (aka evil landlord) would invest money in a property and then let the property go go down?"

That's an easy one! They see a relatively cheap property and think it will be an easy way to earn a buck. They are already stretched and don't have the resources to maintain what they own now. It's in a not so nice neighborhood so all they attract are unreliable tenants that move in and out, each one trashing the place a little more. Eventually the fool realizes he is losing money on the place and abandons it so the city is stuck with it.

Of course not all landlords do that but there are enough in O.C. that do and the effects are evident.

The problem is an overall glut of cheap houses that are at the end of their useful lives that rational buyers know aren't worth investing in. Irrational ones buy them and you can see what happens.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the Derrick online does not have an established database architecture behind the scenes and the link you posted is not active any longer and probably was not the very next day.

John Noel Bartlett said...

The last poster is correct, the Derrick link is no longer available. That is unfortunate,
I will have to see if I can get a copy and scan it.