Property Concerns Brought To Pottstown Borough Council

Pottstown >> Residents in the borough are turning to Pottstown Borough Council for help in addressing some of their concerns about real estate.

Tuesday night’s meeting featured six different residents who each spoke about different concerns ranging from problems on Upland Street, to a new borough ordinance that they fear could penalize homeowners in default on their mortgage.

“We the homeowners of Upland Street are coming here to borough council to express the concerns and pleas for assistance about investor purchases, rentals and subsidized housing here in Pottstown,” said one resident.

Upland Street residents, she said, are seeing a takeover of their street by Spring Hill Realty, which has been buying up properties across Pottstown and beyond.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20150610/property-concerns-brought-to-pottstown-borough-council

Bridgeport Addresses Issue Of ‘Amateur Landlords’

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BRIDGEPORT, PA — Over the past year, many residents and landlords have complained at borough council meetings about overcrowding of and conditions at rental properties.

In response to these complaints, borough council has provided funds in the 2014 budget for a program to help resolve the issue of amateur landlords.

At its Feb. 11 meeting, council discussed hiring a third-party inspector to handle rental properties in the borough.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140214/bridgeport-addresses-issue-of-amateur-landlords

Playing With Philadelphia’s Tax Money

Editor’s note:  Here’s another reason they call Pottstown “little Philadelphia“.   Just change out Philadelphia with Pottstown.  Same problems, just a smaller scale but equally as devastating to the residents of both communities.

Philadelphia’s decades-long neglect of property-tax collections has been a disaster for public schools, the city budget, and typical taxpaying homeowners.

But the system does have its advantages for low-rent landlords, out-of-town speculators, and anyone else interested in playing property Powerball, a game where the objective is to pile up real estate in hope of hitting a gentrification jackpot, while keeping out-of-pocket expenses – like taxes – as low as possible.

Some are big winners, such as the investor who picked up three adjacent Northern Liberties lots in 1994 for a combined $16,000, skipped paying taxes on the lots for more than a decade, and made good on the debt only after flipping the parcels for $750,000 in 2010.

Such speculative windfalls are rare, but it’s not for lack of trying.  Of the roughly 100,000 tax-delinquent properties in Philadelphia, at least 57,500 are owned by investors, not occupants. These are parcels deeded to suburbanites and Floridians, developers and Brooklyn-based holding companies, small-time local speculators and real estate tycoons with dozens of properties to their name.

Read more:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/20130311_Playing_with_the_city_s_tax_money.html

Census: Housing Bust Worst Since Great Depression

WASHINGTON—The American dream of homeownership has felt its biggest drop since the Great Depression, according to new 2010 census figures released Thursday.

The analysis by the Census Bureau found the homeownership rate fell to 65.1 percent last year. While that level remains the second highest decennial rate, analysts say the U.S. may never return to its mid-decade housing boom peak in which nearly 70 percent of occupied households were owned by their residents…

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/business/ci_19055810

Housing’s Dead — Is It Time to Buy?

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BOSTON (The Street Ratings) — No one’s buying homes, never mind homebuilder stocks. Companies such as Pulte(PHM), DR Horton(DHI) and Lennar(LEN) may even be the most contrarian investment today.

The outlook for the housing market, as reported by the mass media, is not good. In case you’ve missed them, here are a few of the headlines from over the past several weeks:

“No recovery in sight for U.S. housing market”

“July real estate market fell short of expectation”

“Housing data shows sector is still weak”

To read the rest of the story, click here:

http://business-news.thestreet.com/berksmont-news/story/housings-dead-is-it-time-to-buy/11224534

Spotlight On Local Business: Valley View Apartments

We are starting a new feature as a public service to Pottstown area residents and businesses.  Our goal is to help promote existing local business and to showcase what the Pottstown area has to offer to new or existing residents.

I met with Brenda Hand, Community Manager of Valley View Apartments, to learn more about her apartment community and what it has to offer potential residents.  Brenda told me she loves her job and looks forward to coming to work every day.  It certainly shows!  A+ on the office staff!  Valley View has a seasoned maintenance staff that will make sure your apartment home is always in great shape!

The Valley View Apartment community is conveniently located on Route 724, directly across the street from Coventry Mall in North Coventry Township.  The complex is near Routes 100 and 422, which provide easy access to King of Prussia, Reading, Exton and Allentown.  Pottstown Borough is directly across the river and offers more shopping, dining and entertainment options along with Coventry Mall, Town Square and Suburbia Village Shopping Centers in North Coventry Township.

Valley View offers spacious one and two bedroom apartment homes with many amenities.  Units are fully carpeted, have fully equipped kitchens and are air-conditioned.  Other features include laundry facilities in each building, storage areas, a swimming pool, a community center, a playground and a fitness center.  Pets are conditionally accepted and require a pet deposit and monthly rental fee.

Valley View has plentiful parking for residents and visitors.  The complex sits atop a small hill and offers a panoramic view of Chester and Montgomery Counties.  The Leasing Office is in the Community Center, which also houses a fitness center, a cyber café, tanning and a community room.  The Community Center is relatively new and a great asset for residents.

Valley View Apartments are professionally managed by RP Management, Inc.

If you are looking for a new apartment home and would like more information about this complex:

Voice: (610) 326-4223

Internet: http://www.rpmgt.com/Portfolio/ValleyView/

Physical address: 600 W. Schuylkill Rd., Pottstown, PA 19465

If you would like to have your business in the spotlight, send an email request to:

pottstownsuper@gmail.com

Norristown Takes A Giant Step Forward

Norristown Borough Council took a giant step into the light Tuesday evening.  The council unanimously voted to end multi-family apartment conversions for single-family homes!  BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The measure does allow for mixed-use meaning commercial use on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors.

Council has wisely decided to stop the madness.  By curbing the carving up of single-family homes into high density apartments, Norristown is demonstrating their desire to attract homeowners and shore up their tax base.

This is a big step in the right direction.

We applaud Norristown Borough Council for walking the talk!