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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2017)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 Housing from 10A If the owner or the renter does not accept these standards, Nivilinszky said he refuses their business. “I will not work with an owner who will not make repairs. That’s the bottom line, and we’re pretty quick to identify who is a respon- sible owner and who wants to do things right. I probably refuse half,” he said. “If I see any signs of mold, or shoddy repairs, I won’t do it. I’m not going to be his savior to fix it all up so he can sell it.” However, there’s an onus on the renters as well. They must also work to upkeep the property and tell Nivilinszky when there is a problem. But what about stan- dard issues, such as the general wear and tear of living in a home? This has created some friction between owners and ten- ants as well. In the past, renters were blasé when it came to fixing minor issues. They weren’t always vocal about the problems in the past; semi-leaky faucets, an elec- trical outlet that doesn’t work. Tenants just lived with it. Or they were scared. “The mindset used to be, ‘I don’t want to call the property manager or the landlord with these problems because they’ll kick me out,’” Nivilinszky explained. Now that the rents are going up, tenants are becoming more demanding. Tensions get frayed. “When you’re paying $1,250 for a home that 18 months ago went for $950, you should not have to deal with outlets that fall out of the wall and faucets that drip,” Nivilinszky said. & shoppe play buy stay The way to fix that, Rodet and Nivilinszky believe, is by having more rentals. But, while the city is working on plans to bring rentals to the community, no complexes are currently being built. “If I had money, I would build multi-unit housing — fourplexes or eightplexes,” Nivilinszky said. “They would be filled in a heart- beat. ... There’s nothing avail- able. People are just stuck with where they’re at. So, they’re hun- kering down and hoping to brave it out. And if you’re in a rental, you do your best to stay in it because you don’t have any options.” The tenants want problems fixed immediately. “Owners who decided to put their home on the market and plant a realtor sign in the yard get a little frustrated when all of a sudden, tenants are saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got this problem now.’” This leads to an entirely new set of issues, as many craftspeo- ple left town for other work years ago and never came back. Now that homes are selling and being built, trades people are in high demand. Nivilinszky is finding he has to pull craftspeople from Eugene just to get work done. While it would be better to have them move back into the community, Rodet has his doubts that will be happening any time soon. “I know that some contractors are looking for employees. You can see them advertising in the paper. Their ad is in there for a long time. It’s not just we don’t have the bodies, we don’t have the bodies of the people that want to get up in the morning, go to work, not mess around, put 40 hours in and not complain. A lot of guys just aren’t brought up that way,” he said. Rodet believes that the way to conquer this problem is by intro- ducing craftwork to high school- ers, so they get involved with the business and see its potential. However, this solution would take time. Even if craftspeople were to come to Florence, they would still have difficulty finding a home. While there is good money to be had in the industry, according to Rodet, the current housing market could prove too high a cost for them. “Significantly out of balance” “I hope that the bubble bursts,” Nivilinszky said, but then he stopped himself. “No, I hope rental units are built, and then the bubble bursts.” Getting the rental units built before the bubble bursts is vital, Nivilinszky believes, because once that happens, investors won’t build. They had been bitten before in 2008. “Today, builders and investors are looking at that as a sad exam- ple. That’s why there’s nothing going on today,” Nivilinszky said. “Everybody is holding their cards close to their vest. They’re not investing because they’re not sure how long this bubble is going to last. Some realtors say, ‘This will go on for another two, three years,’ and others are not sure. They just want to make their money today.” Rentals are risky. Large rental properties cost millions of dol- lars, so investors look for the safe bets. “People make their own pri- Support By Supporting Florence Regional Arts Alliance 120 Maple Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-999-0859 AUTOMOTIVE Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair 345 Hwy. 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-2413 Petersen Auto Detailing Florence, Oregon, 97439 541-999-6078 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS J.D. Enterprises CCB # 23013 P.O. Box 31,000 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-6977 Cheveux Salon 351 Laurel St 8 West Side of Hwy 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3160 Pink Parlor Salon 1379 Rhododendron Drive. Florence, Oregon 97439 541-902-5158 Diversified Marine & Equipment Sales 2530 Hwy. 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-4505 ESTATE SALES Cindy Wobbe Estate Sales 498 Hwy. 101 Florence OR 97439 541-999-0126 www.CindyWobbeEstates.com Florence Events Center 715 Quince Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-1994 Florence Area Chamber of Commerce 290 Hwy 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3128 www.florencechamber.com CHURCH Cross Road Assembly of God 1380 10th St Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3533 Florence Church of Christ 1833 Tamarack St. Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3133 DENTURIST DentureMasters & Implant Center Dr. James Ridley,DDS 206 Nopal Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-6226 Denture Services 524 Laurel Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-6054 GIFT SHOPS Florence Heating & Sheet Metal 1645 Kingwood St 541-997-2422 NEWSPAPERS created a plan to correct Florence’s housing crisis and increase economic development. Many of those plans involved bringing living-wage jobs to the people in the community. This includes partnerships with eco- nomic drivers in the region, county organizations and reach- ing out to other entities. Most recently, the city formed the Housing and Economic Opportunity Project to gather information on needed housing types and to review the city’s processes for building and per- mitting. But, as Reynolds points out, these are typically not the purview of a city. “The city has a foundation of being a great place to build, work and play, but traditionally all that happens in the private market,” she said. “Because of the reces- sion, that makes it more and more difficult for change to hap- pen. That’s where we’re at as a city today. What is our communi- ty support for what the city is doing? What are they seeing as our role in this multifaceted, challenging situation? We don’t have an answer on that. We don’t know where we should be send- ing public dollars in what has tra- ditionally been a private issue for housing.” Those questions are still being discussed between the city and its residents as the City of Florence strives to continue to be a city in motion. Editor’s Note: In Part IV of this series, Siuslaw News will explore county and regional solutions to the housing crisis, and how the City of Florence is working to bring sustainable change to the area’s economy and housing market. Tracy Wolfard Painting LLC Florence, Oregon 97439 541-902-2977 CCB # 195304 FLOORING Edgewater Precision Flooring 1745 W 15th St. Ste A, Florence, Oregon 97439 CCB #186203 541-999-4434 FUNERAL CHAPEL Burns’s Riverside Chapel 2765 Kingwood St. Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3416 GARAGE DOORS Mike Barrett Garage Doors 4005 Hwy 101, Florence 541-997-3935 CCB # 79598 GARBAGE & RECYCLING County Transfer & Recycling 85040 Hwy. 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-8233 REC. VEHICLES SERV. & REPAIR Florence RV & Automotive Specialists 4390 Hwy 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-8287 www.FlorenceRV.com RESTAURANT 1285 Restobar 1285 Bay St, Florence, Oregon 97439 (541) 902-8338 RETIREMENT LIVING The Shorewood 1451 Spruce St. Florence, Oregon 97439 (541) 997-8202 shorewoodsl.com PEST CONTROL Swanson’s Pest Management 1550 15th St #14 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-4027 Oregon Pacific Bank 1355 Highway 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-7121 www.opbc.com www.shoppelocal.biz Bridgewater Ocean Fresh Fish House & Zebra Bar 1297 Bay Street Florence, OR 97439 (541) 997-1133 Siuslaw News 148 Maple Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-3441 www.thesiuslawnews.com PAINTING FINANCIAL SERVICES CHAMBER Businesses HEATING/SHEET METAL Edward Jones-Andy Baber, AAMS Financial Advisor 1010 Highway 101 541-997-8755 BOATS/TRAILERS Local The Chicken Coop on Maple 129 Maple Street, Old Town Florence 541-991-7739 EVENT CENTER BEAUTY SALON/BARBER SHOP lion, after the owners bought it for $875,000. The Daily Mail also reported that, “Australia’s ‘golden hous- ing years’ are officially over with a full-blown crash expected if rates increase too quickly or not enough.” In the U.S., the housing crisis is spreading coast to coast. According to a Seattle Times report earlier this month, one of the major contributors to Seattle’s housing problem is that no one is moving out of homes, creating a housing shortage and higher prices. And this week, Oregon’s Josephine County Board of Commissioners declared an offi- cial housing emergency in hopes to free up state assistance and suspend building rules. Florence is merely a symptom of a national and global crisis. So is there good news for the city? “I’m happy it’s not raining and the sun is out right now,” Nivilinszky said. “And that’s what makes this town one hell of a community to be in. When the sun comes out, life is good.” Though he categorically believes there is a housing bub- ble, and that it’s hurting the econ- omy, Nivilinszky said he hoped that this article would not be too pessimistic. Lofy has the answer to that. “I think the City of Florence really has its s**t together,” he said. “The city is the best place to get a permit. If you go outside the city, like Lane County, it takes forever to get a permit. Florence is one step ahead. Other cities aren’t thinking that way,” he said. In 2015, Reynolds, along with Mayor Joe Henry and the newly- seated Florence City Council, Your Community Keep it local. ART ALLIANCE vate decisions for their invest- ment portfolio as to where they’re going to make money that matches their risk tolerance,” Reynolds said. “And then the builders are doing the same thing. They’re going to build for those projects that seem the least risk for them. Lenders are going to lend easily on things that are less risky. And multi-unit hous- ing is much riskier from an underwriting perspective than just a single-family home. And that risk increases as you go from a single-family dwelling to a sec- ond home to a townhome, con- dos, apartments and low-income- housing. The low-income fund- ing has been drying up since the ’90s.” If the investors begin major construction and the bubble bursts, they may be out millions of dollars for the entire project. It’s a race against time. Build the rentals before the bubble bursts. Exactly when the housing bub- ble will burst — or even if there is one — is in hot debate. While some observers, including those who predicted the 2008 crash, firmly believe the country is in the midst of a bubble, other organizations like Freddie Mac believe that the market is only “significantly out of balance,” not a bubble. While the debate goes on in the U.S., globally countries are officially calling this a bubble — and there are signs that it’s burst- ing. In Australia, the housing mar- ket had seen extreme rises in prices. In two separate articles this month, the Daily Mail reported a “tiny” one bedroom home in Melbourne hit the mar- ket for a “whopping” $2.2 mil- PET GROOMING/BOARDING Aloha Pet Grooming 1751 12th Street Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-2726 PHYSICIANS Eugene Foot and Ankle Health Center 340 9th Street Florence 541-997-2319 SEAFOOD Krab Kettle 270 Hwy 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-8996 SEPTIC SERVICE Wally’s Septic Tank Pumping Inc. 541-997-8885 SHIPPING The Shippin Shack Design • Print • Copy • Ship 625 Highway 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-5888 PODIATRIST Eugene Foot and Ankle Health Center 340 9th Street, Florence 541-997-2319 TIRES Les Schwab Tire Center 4325 Highway 101 Florence, Oregon, 97439 (541) 997-7178 REAL ESTATE Coldwell Banker Coast Real Estate Lynnette Wikstrom, Broker 100 Hwy 101 Florence, Oregon 97439 541-999-0786 West Coast Real Estate Services, Inc. 1870 Hwy. 126, Suite A Florence, Oregon 97439 541-997-SOLD (7653) 11 A UPHOLSTERY Buds Upholstery 4981 Highway 101 Florence,Oregon 97439 541-997-4856
