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.
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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