[Durham INC] instead of plywood on windows...

Fri Mar 4 13:59:22 EST 2011

I love Melissa's idea (about the painting contest, not young kids using  
them as meeting locations), and greatly prefer the look of that house on  
Holloway with these windows/painted plywood to secure it.

But I'm a little concerned that owners of boarded up houses will view this  
as a more permanent solution than the old style of boarding up the house. 

They won't be productive properties again until they are occupied, and as a 
 Realtor, it's hard to show a boarded up house, painted boards or 
otherwise. I  see boarded up houses as property that needs to change hands for 
everyone's  sake, the neighborhood, the former owner and the future owner, even 
the house  itself.

Since I'm on the committee, I wanted to make proper disclosure that I'm a  
Realtor with a history of buying/selling vacant properties. There's no money 
in  it, which is part of the problem. I became a Realtor to assist a 
neighborhood.  One of the primo houses, with a piece of Ellerbee Creek running 
thru it's  backyard, we bought for less than $20k. Do the math, my take was 
less than $300.  and most wouldn't have done the paperwork for that. But it 
helped transfer  ownership so the renovations could begin.

My reason for bringing up that house is that it was easy to show to  
perspective buyers/renovators. The front door had been kicked in, and the same  
sneaker print was also on the front door of the house next door.
Both of these houses are now beautifully renovated and owner  occupied.

Not sure that would be the case if they had been boarded up, with decorated 
 boards or plain ones.

I think the question might be: "Which helps a house change hands faster,  
decorative boards, or a Realtor who is community minded enough to do the work 
 for peanuts?"

Bill  Anderson

In a message dated 3/4/2011 10:15:07 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
fletch.groups at gmail.com writes:

Ken, not every boarded up house has a  neighbor that can keep an eye on it. 
There are entire blocks of streets that  are made up entirely of boarded up 
houses. Turning these buildings into art  may increase traffic and 
visibility around them, helping decrease squatters  and general crime in the 
neighborhoods they are in. Detroit has had some  success with _this_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Project) .

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 10:34 PM, Ken Gasch <_Ken at kengasch.com_ 
(mailto:Ken at kengasch.com) > wrote:

Boarded up  windows scream: "Hello squatter, please consider prying a board 
loose on my  back side and coming on in. As you can see by my boarded up 
windows, I am  empty and nobody will bother you for weeks at a time."  Artwork 
will do  the same thing.

Boarding up homes is a bad  policy.

Homes should be lived  in. 

I have had to keep squatters out of  houses scores of times.  

For starters, go in a few times and  throw all their belongings out. That 
usually keeps them from coming  back.

Empower the neighbors to watch the house  for you. I have one project where 
a neighbor ran off some would-be  looters/squatters with a 12-gage, double 
barrel shotgun.  

Get temporary power on and play music  and keep a light on or two. Put 
lights on timers.

Sign a trespass agreement with the  police and post "no trespassing" signs. 
My sign is not big and neon orange.  My sign is very small. It does not 
scream: "empty house."  It is in  12-point type and says: "No Trespassing. 
Durham Police  Department, Pursuant to NC General Statute 14-153.13 (1),  I 
hereby authorize any officer of the Durham Police Department to  arrest and 
remove any intruder found upon these premises.  I will  testify in court as to 
my power to delegate this authority.  Please do  not hesitate to phone me at 
any time of day or night.  Thank you, Ken  Gasch _919.475.8866_ (tel:
919.475.8866) ."

Do not board up houses!!!

Ken  Gasch
REALTOR®/Broker
Seagroves Realty
_www.KenGasch.com_ (http://www.kengasch.com/) 
C: _919.475.8866_ (tel:919.475.8866) 
F: _866.229.4267_ (tel:866.229.4267) 

On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 10:24 PM, Barry Ragin <_bragin at nc.rr.com_ 
(mailto:bragin at nc.rr.com) > wrote:

You  know, for a city that's on everyone's list of the top ten places to 
live  in the US, we sure seem to have a lot of vacant and abandoned houses in  
this town.

I can't for the life of me understand why that should  be.

Barry Ragin

On 3/3/11 4:30 PM, Melissa's yahoo  wrote:

Maybe  Durham would consider hosting a contest where artists paint a board 
to  be permanently displayed in windows that are broken/in disrepair. Durham 
 could give a small cash prize and/or display the winning board at City  
Hall or something like that. It would be great publicity for the many  artists 
in Durham and the Triangle. If this doesn't float, maybe we can  make it a 
contest for schools or school aged children and give the  winner a $200 
savings bond - this is what they did for the Durham  America Recycles Day 
contest this year. Or the winner's school could get  a raingarden installation or 
something like that, which we want to see  done anyway...

Melissa

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 2,  2011, at 7:13 PM, "RW Pickle"<_randy at 27beverly.com_ 
(mailto:randy at 27beverly.com) >  wrote:

Since  this is a current topic of a new committee, those involved (as  well
as anyone else interested) should view the recent window  treatment
(instead of plywood or other materials) used by NIS on a  house located on
Holloway Street. The house is located on the right  in the first block
(going out Holloway from downtown past the  Public Library) just past the
Dillard Street intersection. The  house is white and I believe it's the 3rd
or 4th on the right as  you head out Holloway that way. This is a window
treatment that  offers security, yet looks like a window. The house also
has fresh  straw in the yard from reseeding (just to help you locate it).
It  has much better curb appeal than plywood and just casually looking,  it
looks like windows are in place.

Randy  Pickle

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