I have close family members who live in a neighborhood that is starting to deteriorate. Most homes were built in the 1960s, so now need updating and repairs. One home's yard is filling up with junk cars, another has such a bad roof little weeds are growing in the gutters.

The worst looking home had a fire and is boarded-up, with the owner trying to fix it up again ''when he has time''. About half the homes are still nice though. Nevertheless, is there a tipping point where it's best to sell and move before the homes values tank?

Now would be the time to move on....

With regard to the fire home, your family member needs to call the city and complain. A home like that either needs to be repaired or razed within a certain amount of time.

Code enforcement and contacting the city..repeatedly ...help keep neighborhoods
looking better.

Sad to say but tell your family members to sell now and get out as soon as they can even if they take a loss. Sadly, even very desirable homes aren't selling very well right now, so houses in a down-spiral area have no chance.

As a back up plan, suggest that they become proactive....cleaning up the neighborhood, establishing a neighborhood watch, cleaning up all clutter on the street as well as the house, engaging everyone in the area to do the same.

Best of luck, post back on steps they take.

ETA: You asked if there was a tipping when values go one way or the other. It is like the slide at the schoolyard and already tipped with abandoned vehicles and fire damage not repaired; are there any benefits to make the slide go the other way? Good luck either way.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

I agree w/Jewel. Yesterday would be better than today...type time line.

i prefer to be proactive...especially if you like living there and the only reason to move is "fear of things getting worse"

Yes, you do have to figure out what to do - but the 2 homes seem to be easily addressable...The one that has been burned....Do you know how to get a hold of the property owner to see what's happening? check w/ the city & see what their policy is and TOGETHER the neighbors need to voice their concerns...

The house w/ junk cars.....Again, cities usually have ordinances/laws stating that cars have to current tags, they have to be moved...Even in the middle of "the 'hood" where i live - there can't be junk cars on the street and they have to be moved or they'll be towed & they're not allowed to be parked in the yards...

If you list your home - future buyers will see these issues and still be potentially concerned....

good luck w/ your decision...

quote:

The one that has been burned....Do you know how to get a hold of the property owner to see what's happening?

The house w/ junk cars.....Again, cities usually have ordinances/laws stating that cars have to current tags, they have to be moved.

The guy with the burned house is supposed to be fixing it up, so they aren't condeming the property. We think he's crazy - for a while he actually lived in the lightly burned section w/o any utilities. He stopped that in the winter. As for the junky cars, the guy is on the town council, so they turn a blind eye.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like most people think it would be best to move out now before it gets worse. It's a shame because the neighborhood is nicely shaded, fairly quiet, and still has some nicer homes.

Anyone have an idea on how to convince my parents that bars on their neighbors' windows aren't just a decorative touch? Frail and in their 80's, they refuse to move. When my mom had her purse stolen at a local store, the sheriff shrugged and said, "What do you expect in this neighborhood?" A 50-pound cement bird bath disappeared from the yard, along with anything else that might be considered valuable. Meanwhile, they refuse to do costly needed repairs (the roof leaks like crazy, water barely dribbles out of the pipes) and the value of the property continues to fall. Suggestions?

"mseadog23," Yes, I do have some ideas on the situation you posed. Let your parents live out their years where they are comfortable and happy. Perhaps, it is not the best of neighborhoods any more BUT it is their neighborhood.

As for not doing costly repairs, maybe they are more concerned with paying each month's power and grocery bill than spending $4-5K on a roof that will out-live them by many years and are willing to put up with cranky plumbing for the same reason.

My suggestion would be to offer to help with any physical routine maintennance around the house that they might not be able to do anymore. Spend as much time as you can with them doing fun things like visiting, remembering earlier days and sharing meals together; forget trying to persuade them to move.

All too soon it won't be necessary as they will be gone; you will have time enough then to either sell or fix-up the way you think it should be. Sorry to be so blunt but I have been there and done that; what I wouldn't give to have just one more dinner at my parents' house with them without trying to tell them how to live out the last years of their lives....

Mseadog...you don't convince them to leave.....This is their home......I also live in an area that many feel is "undesirable", but i feel safe in my home....We watch out for one another....

Enjoy your parents, help them w/ repairs if you can...Idaho Resident said it well....

Thanks for the wake-up call. My experience as a crime reporter has tainted my vision and I guess I want my parents to move for my sake. Making notes at crimes scenes involving the bludgeoning and assaulting of the elderly, I promised myself my parents would not become a statistic. Now seeing it in a different light, I realize my world is not their world (thank goodness!). The 5-hour distance between us (and the cost of gas) cuts down on little more than bi-weekly visits to do house and yard work, but I do the best I can.

Then your experience as a crime reporter also tells you that crime happens EVERYWHERE....

let me share w/ you what the police tell us at our neighborhood meetings....The majority of crime that is taking place in the cities are related to drugs or getting back at someone because they took something, didn't hold up their end of a deal and revenge....

I notice that when i watch the news - if it was an innocent bystander, then the news is quick to report that....if they aren't reporting that, my assumption is going to be that the victims are tied up w/ drugs, etc...

Your parents aren't involved in that mess....they don't have the things that drug folks are looking for......Do they know how to be smart? Not leaving doors unlocked....windows are closed & locked when not home.....Lights on timers....Lights on the outside of their home...

I understand your concern.....I wish my mom would light up her house more because it always looks empty & dark...but she won't...I'm not going to change her mind....She also feels safe in her home...and who am i to tell this 71 yr old woman what to do?? Not me....

Life is going to go on...we can't stop that....continue to enjoy!!!

mseadog, if safety is a major concern, would you be able to have installed an alarm system? That might give you a sense of security. Even if your parents refused to turn it on at night, the alarm companies usually have s sign in the front of the house that states there is an alarm system.

Actually, most law enforcement agencies have adopted New York style high tech mapping techniques based on the idea that crime does not happen everywhere equally. While I agree that a lot of crime is drug related, I'm not sure what you mean when you say "they don't have the things that drug folks are looking for." They have quite a bit of good jewelry, a life-long coin collection, bonds, stocks and other financial instruments. Drugs are sold openly next door and it has been an education for my dad when he finds various paraphernalia in the yard. A huge marijuana growing operation across the street made national news. As far as an alarm system goes, my siblings and I have offered to have one installed but they turned down the suggestion insisting that they wouldn't be able to figure out how to use it. They have just one phone in the house and though we bought them a cordless designed for seniors, they won't touch it. My brother bought them two cell phones for safety sake, but they threw one away and gave the other to the Goodwill.

Oh, my! It sounds as though you have parents who want to live the way they want to live no matter what the kids say!

My experience is that most dope boys that do the burglary stuff are looking for things to pawn and sell on the street quickly....jewelry does fit into that category...bonds, stock, and financial papers, aren't as easy to pawn....it's going to take a "higher class" thief....

If those are things they have in the home and they don't want to put them in a safety deposit box - then purchase a safe that is bolted to the floor and hidden in a corner that isn't going to be out in the open...

And a safe bolted to the floor is something we all should have....How many of us have our checkbooks sitting in a bowl, or thrown into a desk drawer or filing cabinet....Birth certificates and passports are in a file cabinet that is easily accessible to anyone????

And Charcoalsmom hit it w/ the statement that people enjoy living their lives their way and aren't always open to changes....

i know my mom wishes i lived somewhere else, but i don't...and i'm not moving anytime soon, either!!!

"mseadog23," I'm glad these posts have maybe helped you see a few different aspects about the situation although I can tell that you still wish they would just take your advice and move.

Just for argument's sake, let's say you found your parents a nice, little up-dated place with a nice roof and plumbing that wasn't old and moved them far away from their old neighborhood which is "slowly going downhill."

Who knows how long they have to live (or any of us for that matter!), but it sure might seem longer to them being away from all that is familiar and enjoyable to them. Just a thought...

PS. Both of my parents are now gone but in earlier years, my sister bought them a cell phone (that they never activated) and I bought them a cordless speed dial type that had photographs of us kids and their friends instead of numbers (which was still in its box when we had their Estate Sale)!

Dad passed in 1998 and Mom followed in 2000; with both passing away peacefully at home just where they wanted to be. I finally figured out that the best gift I could give them was to treat them as the adults they were with the right to make their own choices as to how to live out the remainder of their lives.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

Idaho resident, did your parents have family and friends nearby?

"mseadog23," I've been thinking about your question all day and understand why you asked it. It's so hard to feel responsible for helping your parents make some decisions when they are strong-minded and pretty set in their ways. Especially when you feel that perhaps you have more information than they do as they aren't out in the every day world the way we are....

But, to answer your question directly, they did have friends nearby in the neighborhood but, the funny thing is that most of those friends were becoming more and more homebodies and Dad did most of the visiting around to check on them!

He passed at age 81. About a year and a half before, I was up there only to discover he was on the roof of a neighbor's house helping to fix it while his friend, age 70, was in the yard holding the ladder.

As far as family, although there are four of us kids, everyone else lived in another state and I lived about 30 miles (45 minutes) away. I did spend most of my time split between my home and Mom's after Dad's passing so she could remain at home and have never regretted one day of it.

There are no easy answers and I know what you, and many others, are going through during this trying time. All I can offer is that the fact that, although I might have made different choices myself, I am glad that I respected my parents enough to honor their choices as to where and how they wanted to live out their lives....

I wish this were the case in my parent's neighborhood. For the most part, there is no one in the neighborhood familiar to them. Two families (who were my schoolmates) moved into their parents' homes, but my Dad ran them off when they tried to help out by doing stuff like mowing the lawn or simple home repairs. I know my dad's anger stems from his frustration over his age and physical limitations and I think he regrets it after he has a melt down and berates people. My mom has fallen twice in the house, breaking her wrist and tail bone and her doctors have urged me to get them into a safer place. My mom would leave tomorrow if she could. We have plenty of room and have offered to let them have a whole floor to themselves, but they refuse. Caught between my kids and my parents - I am going stark, raving mad.

"mseadog23," I feel your frustration and wish there was a simple answer but there isn't. It sounds to me as if your Dad has no intention whatsoever of leaving his home.

No sense trying to roll a boulder uphill so I suggest that you visit as often as you can and forget trying to persuade him otherwise. You need to remember these times as good times instead of times of arguments.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Mseadog, gosh, I am so sorry to hear that. Hugs to you.

If there are homes that have multiple cars in the yard, trash, etc. contact the city to advise them. They usually have a department/staff to handle these types of issues. Also, I can't recommend this more - read the city council and planning department minutes or, if you have time, go to the meetings. You never know what is planned for your area. 11 years ago I moved into a not so great neighborhood because I knew the city was planning a lot of improvements and had grants available for busiensses in the area. We bought, and it was several years later, but the area took off and now is one of the most desirable parts of town. We are renting that home out to tentants now and have had no problem finding good tenants. We are now considering buying (we've moved due to work) and I'm again actively keeping up with the planning and council minutes from the areas we are moving to.

Don't give up on a current area because it seems in decline. Also, there are neighborhood organizations that are usally around for older neighborhoods.

Good luck!