1. Mr. Filoni began by describing the master planning process. The team will take a year to learn about Bradford and come up with potential strategies that have a good economic foundation.
2. With those that the planning team has talked to so far, there have been common themes. We have encountered a lot of negative attitudes and discouragement.
1. The idea that Bradford is old, tired and not working.
2. There is the issue of the low-income population taking blame for the city's problems and problem areas.
3. Everyone sees the city of Bradford and its downtown as the core of the area. (The study area is the city along with Bradford Township and Foster Township.)
4. There are shared services among the three municipalities but a divided tax base.
5. Many people have said that there is nothing to do here and nothing downtown.
6. There are people who would like to do something with the upper floors on Main Street, but it isn't clear the best way to do that.
7. Housing conditions are an issue in a number of areas. There are poorly maintained properties (primarily in the city) and it is said that new housing is needed
3. Mr. Tripp is part of the team to do Economic Development analysis on the area. According to the work done so far, the real estate sector is very depressed. It is only about 14% of the expected amount. The construction sector is low, too.
4. The planning team asked the realtors to describe their views of the current market. New jobs (for the oil and gas companies) are bringing new homebuyers. They are also getting home buyers that are looking to escape cities, escape NY taxes, retire, and work from home. They are getting the buyers through realtor.com and coldwellbanker.com. Property taxes are still a deterrent and this summer there were a lot of lookers and not as many buyers. The price range of most of he higher end housing is $150,000-$200,000. The nice homes up the hill from the high school are generally $200-250,000.
5. Today's buyers and more savvy and picky about what they are looking for. They want a 3-bedroom ranch with a full basement on a 1-acre lot more than they want luxuries and upgrades. They want a price range of $85,000-$120,000 or $150,000 with a little more land. They are looking for a good roof, heating system, windows, etc. They will deal with paint, and small repairs (driveways, etc). The realtors are trying to find creative ways to sell homes that need some work.
6. On the New York side of the border, there are more houses available than interested buyers. But in Pennsylvania there are more buyers than houses.
7. In the winter, when companies bring people in those people need to buy promptly. But those who come in other seasons or retirees have more time to look around to find precisely what they want.
8. The team asked if housing prices matches available incomes or are they based on real assessments? It seems that for some of the owners from here, they are struggling to afford $80,000 and cover the taxes, too. But on the other hand, some people coming in from outside the market can afford more, but the realtors don't have much to offer in the $120,000-$150,000 range. The housing that OECD builds cuts into market, too.
9. A few other comments about the local housing market:
   a.  In some areas of the valley, extending water and sewer is an issue.
   b.  They think that a development of ranches at $80,000-120,000 would sell well.
   c.  Buyers don't want to be on the hill.
   d.  There is a big gap between low and high-end homes.
   e.  Lot size is an issue in selling city homes.
   f.  Locally, the townhouse generation may have been missed.
   g.  There are not many true neighborhoods in this area. Derrick City feels like a place, but in the township, you don't feel like you've arrived anywhere.
   h.  It costs a lot of money to build a house today.
   i.  People coming back to get away from city, from their commute and getting back to the small town.
   j.  There is a high foreclosure rates on homeowners who stretch to become homeowners.
   k.  There is a need for housing for those with incomes from $45,000-$65,000.

10.  Existing downtown loft owners are raising rents or giving up on them because of poor tenants. The area doesn't have a market for families wanting to live in lofts downtown. Also, these realtors generally don't deal with a lot of renters. There are also downtown issues with loiterers in the square. There has been some attrition of slum landlords in the area. And there are also some local landlords who are doing good work and who they will notify when properties become available. Even with houses that need rehabilitation buyers don't want big-ticket items to deal with, but they will do some fixing.

11.  The realtors think that the code inspectors are overwhelmed. They think that they are trying but they can't keep up.

12.  Residents don't do a lot of house swapping around here. There aren't really any starter homes, retirement homes, etc. A few older people are leaving 2 story homes, but there are no good places to downsize to.

13.  In some cases, the conditions of properties reflect the older generation on a fixed income that can't afford to move or do maintenance. They are just keeping up with taxes and getting by.

14.  The red brick apartment building up on the hill used to be higher end apartments, but it isn't any longer. The realtors think that apartment buildings would be marketable for renting but not for purchasing. There is still a high demand for quality rental housing.

15.  The hospital owns some homes to rent to new employees while they look for a place to live, and some new employees end up buying because they can't find anything to rent.

16.  No one has jumped on the market of student housing. Some parents buy a low-end house for 4 years instead of renting a place for their child while they're in school.

17.  Taxes are less of an issue in the townships, but there is still a school tax issue. There is also a new house tax penalty since the taxes are based on a 1997 base year scale. A new homeowner could be paying $3-5K/year, and an older homeowner is paying less. This is a common problem in Pennsylvania.

18.   The realtors think that retirement townhouses would only work if they were single floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with 1-2 car garage. But single ranch homes would be even better. There is some retirement housing happening in Olean (specifically in Allegheny), but it shouldn’t be copied since Olean is a bigger market.

19.  The realtors think that their generation is the one to focus on. They own their homes, they are raising their kids here and they are planning to stay.

20.  When showing the area to potential clients, there is an image problem coming into Bradford, especially from the North. They don't mind showing potential buyers downtown with an explanation of what's going on, but they don't take them on certain streets.

21.  For commercial real estate, comps have to come from Erie and Pittsburgh. It makes it a difficult market for getting a good appraisal and to get interested buyers. The person charged with handling the Bradford Mall property doesn’t respond and the janitor shows around interested buyers. Even though only Kmart is on the market, the whole thing might be available if contact could be made.

22.  There are some territorial issues. The "right" buyer will get more help from municipalities if there is an issue.

23.  There is no multi-list because the realtors of the past didn't want to work together. But today’s realtors thing that there is more money to be made in an MLS system. It would help new people coming in, too. There is someone working on a McKean county MLS system. There is still some jealousy among agents and some don’t work cooperatively, but there is hope that there will be an MLS system by the end of the year. Not everyone will participate, but eventually everyone will have to participate in order to stay competitive with those using the system.

24.  The realtors appreciate being asked to be included in the master plan process. The zoning boards are not really an issue for them. They don’t think that there are big impediments to getting variances. Water and sewage are probably the biggest issues affecting the realtors and future housing development.

With no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned. The foregoing constitutes the major items accepted by the attendees. If there are any additions or corrections to these minutes, please notify the Architect.

Respectfully submitted,

MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.

Amy P. Maceyko, AIA, LEED AP