He wore white socks with his flip-flops, and though some have already staked claim on this look (Jews and Protestants in shorts/fat middle managers retrieving the morning paper/black guys running errands), for a ten year-old kid with a new skateboard, he was jumping around the concrete with abandon.
Remembering the still heavy boat-shoes-no-socks-scar on my right ankle accumulated at about his age, I couldn’t help but smile at what was likely to only be day three or four of his skateboarding infancy. I could tell his lack of coordination was not likely to cause as much harm as did mine, which actually says more about the steep learning curve athletic disciplines shoved upon my youth than his yet-absent balance. These days, I skate in an old pair of boots.
He asked me if I knew any tricks in the same innocent-disposition so many city kids are not credited with. It was not from naivety—some random dude taking pictures of ugly houses on his street clearly posed no threat to his aimless morning, and as someone who was over-instructed to never talk to strangers, I took his welcoming demeanor as a compliment. If I would have asked, I’m pretty sure he would given me a bowl of cereal.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him his knock-off, sporting goods store brand board was not doing him any favors. I think they pack sand inside the bearings. And IF the trucks would of had bushings, I could tell they would have caved under my weight. I carefully did my best to give him a few pointers without snapping the deck, and told him eluding ollies would be less so with a proper pair of sneakers, any sneakers. Quick 101 over, he instantly took to my demo curb and wanted to know more about getting into that blunt-slide-for-beginners.
The brown pile at 7 Knowles is worth about four dollars (U.S.), including my generous valuation of the land. HUD seems to think someone is going to pay $60K for it, which is down from the $75K I remember it being listed for about eight months ago (don’t quote me). It has now been on the market 625 days.
The house easily needs $150K worth of work to become even relatively up to code; at this state of disrepair, it would be cheaper to start over with a vacant free (or even $60K) lot. I don’t know how HUD chooses their homes in which to intervene, but they sure couldn’t do worse than selecting a piss-poor list of homes which should all be given away.
And that is THE problem with all the vacants. Banks, absentee owners, and even HUD all still blindly see the concept of “homes” as a financial investment, now, or someday in the future. That’s great for a city consistently gaining population. But for cities stagnant, or slightly loosing people (Providence), this equation does not work. Banks and speculators gathering up and trading vacant homes in the thousands—THOUSANDS—without even stepping foot in the city, what are they thinking?
Long-term, is some mass-migration going to push people back into cities of industry? Are the buy-ins so low that modern carpetbaggers hope to just absently sit on hundreds of thousands (millions?) of addresses across the country until a few turn out to be the future site of a military base, fifty years from now? Is that the game? Or is it about impressing investors with a “portfolio” of homes listed for their theoretical tax-appraised value without pause for the climate of the communities they rot (within)?
In the city of Providence, even in an “up-market”, fixing up a house like 7 Knowles will never be a sound financial investment for an asking price of more than a few pennies. And even then, it’s still a risk, and a risk for what? Something nostalgic about this house I’m missing? Is this house so unique a perfect buyer will plan his or her family around it? Could it wind up on the cover of some trendy magazine on modern architecture and remodeling?
Of course not. So for $200K plus of today’s capital, which would be asking a lot for this area, you still end up with an updated yet still crummy home. Granite, track lighting, and energy efficient appliances still won’t give it a garage, increase it’s square footage (1500), provide that Colonial/Victorian/Bungalow charm, or move it into a better school district.
Forgotten Providence has now cataloged dozens of vacant and decrepit homes across the city in rough neighborhoods that, still, lots of people would be happy to live in, but no one can afford to.
Does that make sense? Rotting houses even people with jobs and savings can’t afford to renovate?
Tear it down.
February 2010 Update
*photos by Cody
Also Nearby:
- 24 Diamond St There are
- 120 Taylor St Front doo
- 32 Glenham St Bank owne
From the projo real estate transactions page, this one sold back in May for 30k to ‘Moreland Group LLC’
Moreland Group seems pretty active, they bought property from a couple of banks in the last few months.
This was one of the first HUD homes to be offered to the City of Providence for $1 because it was on the market for so long. The City did not want it. Moreland has been active in buying foreclosed homes since they incorporated in February of this year.
Did HUD ever think about offering it to a private citizen for $1? How does that work? Was it just through private negotiation HUD sold it to Moreland for $30K? Or was the public asking price actually changed?
There are HUD web sites which seem to offer a lot of prooperty. My experience with HUD is that it is very helpful to know someone. I called them once about one of their programs. I got a complete run around, finally I was told I should hire a private consultant. This was at the time when a lot of the “private consultants”, such as former Senator Ed Brooke were being indicted. I think Brooke ended up as one of those “unidicted Co-conspirators”. He also managed to get a federal building named after him.
It is possible that I should have pushed a little more. It is also possible that I simply didn’t know the right questions to ask, I was a complete novice.
I suspect it is possible to make offers, I think you need to know the right format and how to get it to the right place.
HUD was originated in the 60’s, or 70’s, to assist with “Urban Renewal”. In those days they would deal with individuals, I don’t think that is what they desire anymore. I have heard countless stories of the days when they had an office in Boston’s South End. You culd qalk in with a P&S and walk out with a mortgage and a rehabilitation loan. as you can imagine, most of these stories were about someone who had pulled the wool over their eyes. Recently I made extensive online efforts for relatives to find out about a program HUD had for elderly to add a rental unit, that was hopeless. If they have a local office, I would walk in.
I live on Camp Street about 300 feet away from this house. I’ve been here ten years and I can remember when 7 Knowles was just beginning to be uninhabitable — I knew people who lived there. Once the last of them moved out, members of the crackhead community helped themselves to all of the copper in it, down to the last bit of wiring. Shortly before it sold to Moreland, it had a fire in it that seemed sure to be the last straw.
Then Moreland came in and did a thorough and good-looking rehab, even keeping a lot of the original interior details, which, from the “before” pictures above, you wouldn’t have expected to be intact or even worth saving, but they were. Moreland didn’t just come in with a down-and-dirty vinyl siding job, either — they replaced the shingled siding and turned what had been the neighborhood’s worst eyesore into a really attractive house. At some point in the past few months, they turned it over for $171k. After a decade of seeing this neighborhood raped and pillaged by “investors” who’d do half-assed renos and then flip for a sizable profit, it was a surprise to see Moreland come in and do the great job they did bringing 7 Knowles back to life. I’d consider it a stroke of luck if they should get hold of the house that just went vacant next door to mine, and do a similar restoration there.
Any pictures of the updating, Cody?
Cody FTW on the pictures. Anyone moved in yet?
Hi, Stump — yeah, someone’s living there now, I guess the person(s) who bought it, but I haven’t met them yet. Probably won’t until spring, when we all come out of our burrows and the neighborhood comes alive again. Looks good, though, eh?
That looks like a sensible “market rate” rehab. No idea what went on inside, but the outside responded to just renailing the shingles and paint, plus a cement “skim” on the abutment/flying buttress. “Home handyman” stuff really. Wish we saw more of it.