I hope this guy doesn't win the lotto

Click on photo to make larger Quote taken from Free New York Blog

“Flippers”, as most practice today, ARE Sleazy.

"Jim–Doc Breem used to “flip” houses back in the 70’s. But not the way it’s done today. He’d buy them cheap, but rehab them using his own labor, time and materials, then either rent them out or sell them for a marginal to medium profit, depending on how much he had to put into the place to begin with.

Buying a property unseen, and selling it on E bay to some unsuspecting noid for profit is sleazy, no doubt. Worse yet, buying the property, stripping out the house of anything valuable, THEN selling it to some unsuspecting noid is the problem that Buffalo has.

Another problem Buffalo has is there are too many houses for the number of people left living there. Jim’s neighborhood is relatively new for Buffalo, it’s mostly a post WW2 built up area–but still makes it over a 60 year old neighborhood.

My mother’s house in Riverside was built in 1889–it was the 2nd house built on what was the Esser Farm. My dad remembers going out to that farm from Greeley St with his grandad with a horse and wagon to buy fresh eggs and chickens. But Much of the housing in Riverside was built in the era.

Many of the houses in Black Rock were built before 1870. My aunt’s house at 280 East St had the clapboards installed with wooden pegs instead of nails, and still had the gas jets in the walls for gas lighting. Now THAT’s old. But I digress.

If I hit the powerball tomorrow, one of the things I’d want to do is go into a neighborhood like Riverside, and start a new trend. Buy up all the houses on two streets (with backyards facing each other), tear all the houses down, and start over again. New Sewer and water lines, electric, phone and cable/internet lines underground, larger lots, and slightly larger, more comfortable homes that working families could afford. Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets.

The other big problem I see in neighborhoods like Riverside and Black Rock is absentee landlords. I know Joe Golombek agrees that they have ruined what was in our youth a vibrant neighborhood. When 3 of the 4 corners of Tonawanda and Ontario have gone from the Riverside Men’s Shop (at that spot for over 100 years), Rung’s Furniture (there almost as long) and Schnitzer’s Hardware (there for 80 years) to an empty storefront and 2 Rent-to-Own Stores, you know there’s an absentee landlord problem.

Section 8 tenants do no better a job of keeping up a neighborhood in rented homes than they did in public housing. It’s not theirs, and the government pays for them to live there, so why should THEY give a crap? So they don’t. And the neigborhood goes to hell. It’s truly a shame."

While what most of what is said is the truth the quote "Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets." how is a Gated Community good for the neighborhood ? I like many others choose to live here I am in a position to live pretty much where I want to I CHOOSE to live in a house that is 116 years old with a small garden no garage for the car your average 33' X 99' lot small front yard. I like most of my Neighbors owners and renters alike and most like me if I wanted to live with "New Sewer and water lines, electric, phone and cable/internet lines underground, larger lots, and slightly larger, more comfortable homes that working families could afford. Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets." I would move into a mac mansion in the Suburbs and live in a gated community close to someone much like yourself we probably wouldn't talk much but if we did we could talk about the OLDEN days in the hood and how great it was and how much of a shit hole it is now we can Monday morning QB about what we would do and what should be done and we can talk about those rental properties that we have in BR/R and how the ROCKERS trash them and how lucky we are that we don't live there damn they should level that whole place and start over again. But before we knock down those old drafty money pits we should strip out all that old woodwork and put it in one of those new Vinyl Victorians.