Demolishing Homes In Maplewood

Better make it "painting them or ripping them out," based on what happened to the house next door to us.  Lovely new neighbors, though, after the flipper was finished.

Jaytee said:

money is not everything in life… that’s partially why our society is the way it is. When I sell my house I will be picky about it. I’m not selling my house to anyone coming to offer me cash, whether they’re accompanied by a pit bull or a contractor’s utility truck. But that’s me. I happen to care about my neighbors.

I would argue that because of the way our society is, money is very important. I’m glad you’re privileged enough to be able to turn down a potentially higher offer on your house because you care about what happens to that structure when you no longer inhabit it.

For other people, the extra money may make a significant difference in their life. And I’m not talking about buying a luxury car or taking a cruise. I’m talking about their ability to provide for themselves. I know a lot of the houses that get flipped are sold by people who are no longer able to care for them, either financially or because of advanced age. That’s why flippers want them … they can fix them up for a profit.  

Or maybe it’s someone who’s struggling to get out from a bad mortgage. Maybe their finances took a strain from an illness or divorce, and they’re trying not to end up with a foreclosure on their credit history. 

So you can pontificate all you want about whether someone cares about their neighbors when they sell their house. But maybe try to be more empathetic that you don’t live in their shoes or understand what they may be experiencing. 

I can get behind the arguments about zoning restrictions and enforcement.  But making this sound like a moral choice for a house seller is something I disagree with. 

Not too many years ago and maybe still there were many bids on a house. Buyers would write letters to the owner telling them about themselves and how much they loved the house. Homeowners would be so enthralled by the the letter that sometimes it became more important than the money. I know this happened.   Also there are some connivers out there. They want a house they can  flip so they  get an accomplice to buy it and someway it is turned over to him. This gets very complicated but first buyer never even sees the house but is the owner for a while. Remember the owner does not know this.

Selling to people who will honor your house and your memories in it. 

So, three years ago, friends put their house on the market. Several potential buyers wrote "love letters" (new fad) to the house. So they chose their buyer based on the price and little -- but still some --- attention to the letter.

Two of the parts of the house that they were most proud of, two small benches on the front porch that faced each other. They would sit on those benches on summer evenings and watch the cars go by and greet neighbors. Another was a cabinet that was built to fit into a corner. It had a green marble top. Green marble is as rare as people going the speed limit on Irvington Avenue.

Anyway, about a month after their move, they drive by the house. The benches are missing and the green marble cabinet on the berm, waiting to be picked up by the sanitation department. The marble top was broken into pieces.

I have heard of plenty of sellers who did get picky about their buyers' motivations when they were aware of them. That's why letters from buyers about why they want to buy the house sometimes DO make a difference. But I agree with whoever said that it should not be on the sellers to make a morality-based decision. The town needs to tighten up the codes, consistent with what neighboring towns are already doing, so that we don't become a haven for flippers who don't care.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Selling to people who will honor your house and your memories in it. 

So, three years ago, friends put their house on the market. Several potential buyers wrote "love letters" (new fad) to the house. So they chose their buyer based on the price and little -- but still some --- attention to the letter.

Two of the parts of the house that they were most proud of, two small benches on the front porch that faced each other. They would sit on those benches on summer evenings and watch the cars go by and greet neighbors. Another was a cabinet that was built to fit into a corner. It had a green marble top. Green marble is as rare as people going the speed limit on Irvington Avenue.

Anyway, about a month after their move, they drive by the house. The benches are missing and the green marble cabinet on the berm, waiting to be picked up by the sanitation department. The marble top was broken into pieces.

So, when they originally bought the house, did they keep everything exactly the way the prior owners had it? Or did they make changes that they wanted to make because it was now their house?

mrincredible said:

So, when they originally bought the house, did they keep everything exactly the way the prior owners had it? Or did they make changes that they wanted to make because it was now their house?

good point.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

good point.

Ever wonder why people who sell their homes are more likely to revisit it even if it takes years later?  It’s because they are attached to the property where they raised their kids and have so many memories. Most people I know would like to know they sold their house to the people who would take good care of it. 
We don’t have to go too far to see what happens when people just sell their homes to the first buyer, who stops pruning the bushes and upkeeping the property… they didn’t care about their neighbors or the town anymore. 
I have heard that story over and over…

Jaytee,

Looking for some guidance. If I receive two offers on my house - one for 600k and one from a flipper for 650k, which one should I take?

tjohn said:

Jaytee,

Looking for some guidance. If I receive two offers on my house - one for 600k and one from a flipper for 650k, which one should I take?

ask your wife… I can’t help you to make this decision 

Asking homeowners to consider the possible values of those they are selling to is fraught with a whole bunch of issues. Some raised here:

1) buyers lie in order to get the house. They send fake "love letters" and then screw up the house anyway.

2) Sellers are quite understandably looking for more money, to fund their retirement, their nursing home fees,. their divorces, or their none-of-your-business.

3) Judging people's possible values before you sell to them is inherently non-inclusive and judgmental. Unless somebody passes the "one of us" test, they don't get to have a house? I admit this irks me a little:

Jaytee said:

We don’t have to go too far to see what happens when people just sell their homes to the first buyer, who stops pruning the bushes and upkeeping the property… they didn’t care about their neighbors or the town anymore.

There are so many assumptions in there. a) that the people who sold their house knowingly sold it to some sort of bum who wouldn't keep up the property. b) that the people who bought the house are bums ... something you can't know. Maybe there are things getting in the way of upkeep (lost a job, had an injury or illness, the stress of buying a house has caused family problems and they're divorcing now ... a whole host of none-of-your-business reasons). If it gets as far as a code or public safety/health issue, they'll have to deal with it, but short of that ... MYOB.

IMO, what changes happen INSIDE a house is your own business (as long as it isn't a protected historical site, is inspected, up to code, doesn't cause structural damage, etc). What happens OUTSIDE a house the community has some interest in, to a point ... and if there are things we care about as a community, we need it codified in regulation or no amount of finger wagging is going to make things turn out the way we want. This has the advantage of going through a community process - not just one homeowner's personal thoughts about what is acceptable and what is not. 

It’s not a matter of if the person interested in buying your house is “one of us”. It is a fact that most people want to sell their home to someone who would not let it go to ruin. Why do some of you go off on a completely different level? 
one day a man came and knocked on my door, he introduced himself as the previous owners son. He was very surprised as to the extent I had gone to redo the landscaping. Told me stories of growing up in maplewood and the fun times in maplecrest park. His father had fallen off the roof and broke his leg, his mother had fallen in the antique bath tub and broke her hip. She never recovered. His mother’s sister was in charge of selling the house, she asked me how handy I was, she never asked me why my wife was black…. 

New price on 2/29 for the house on St. Lawrence, $1.795M.

I was wrong, no suckers from NYC took the bait at $1.9M.

deleted.  

jeffl said:

Just drove by the St Lawrence house for the first time.  It's even more horrible in real life than it is in pictures.  I feel so bad for those neighbors. 

It isn't a crumbling, rodent-infested drug den.  It's just unattractive.  If that house was next to mine, I would get used to it.  And as Mrincredible noted, it is likely that some perfectly decent family will buy that house.  Let's make them feel welcome.

I drove past my own house in this weather, and it looks horrible, too.

Deleted. 

DaveSchmidt said:

I drove past my own house in this weather, and it looks horrible, too.

Same here. DaveSchmidt's house looks terrible.

ridski said:

Same here. DaveSchmidt's house looks terrible.

A few more quarters of Waste Industries savings and we should have enough for a paint job.

It’s so sad that a single unattractive house has taken root in the fair township of Maplewood. A place where every single house ever built is a shining beacon of nostalgic charm. 

Are you really that concerned with the appearance of your neighbors’ individual homes?  Or do you think it’s going to genuinely adversely affect the mental well-being of the neighbors of the new house?  It’s just new and different from what was there.  It will fade into the background pretty soon. 

DaveSchmidt said:

A few more quarters of Waste Industries savings and we should have enough for a paint job.

I toured your home on a house event many years ago.

Very charming.

mrincredible said:

It’s so sad that a single unattractive house has taken root in the fair township of Maplewood. A place where every single house ever built is a shining beacon of nostalgic charm. 

Are you really that concerned with the appearance of your neighbors’ individual homes?  Or do you think it’s going to genuinely adversely affect the mental well-being of the neighbors of the new house?  It’s just new and different from what was there.  It will fade into the background pretty soon. 

While it is true that the look of Maplewood is not up there with war and global warming, I gotta say that the house going up on Maplewood Ave is pretty massive.

The house on St. Lawrence continues to languish at $1.795M.  In the meantime, the brand new house at 697 Prospect Street went on the market at $1.999M. 

There are large beautiful renovated older homes available for much lower price points.  Good luck!

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/697-Prospect-St-Maplewood-NJ-07040/338481647_zpid/

Those photos don't show how far back from the street that Prospect house is. It's basically in the backyard of the Victorian next to it. 

yahooyahoo said:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/697-Prospect-St-Maplewood-NJ-07040/338481647_zpid/

Dunno. IF it were .622 miles from the train station or closer, instead of .7 ---- Maybe. For now, I'll pass.

Meanwhile, $2m., for that? They're blowing smoke out of...

RichardR said:

Those photos don't show how far back from the street that Prospect house is. It's basically in the backyard of the Victorian next to it. 

I agree. The lot is deep but 2/3 of it is taken up by the house and the driveway. The backyard could have been the best part but the house is too far back.