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Come to Oklahoma Where Neighbors Help One Another -- A Story of Contrast

By
Managing Real Estate Broker with National Land Realty 120358

Come to Oklahoma where neighbors are nice and help one another.

I just read an article in the Daily Real Estate News dated October 13, 2008 that really upset me.  No, it enraged me.  The article is entitled "Gramps Jailed for Snubbing Lawn Care Order." 

This blew my mind -- this story would never happen in Oklahoma -- Certainly not in Weleetka where I held an open house yesterday.   In fact at my open house neighbors came and took lots of flyers and mortgage information to tell their friends at work about the house they were visiting.  That's because they knew the owner and wanted to help her sell her house.  Weleetka is a quiet little town with nice people and friendly neighbors -- people who care about one another.

That is sharp contrast to other parts of the country.  Compare it to the neighborhood in Florida where "Gramps" just got jailed for not resodding his lawn.

Here is a snippet of the story quoted from the Daily Real Estate News, whose source was the St. Petersburg Times, Jodie Tillman (10/11/08)

"A 66-year-old grandfather in Bayonet Point, Fla., is doing jail time because he couldn't afford to replace the sod on his lawn in his deed-restricted community after his sprinkler system failed."  The man had been unable to fix the lawn after his adjustable rate mortgage rose... yada, yada, yada.  One of the board members of the neghborhood association "expressed regret that... [Gramps]... had landed in jail. 'It's a sad situation,'"... "'But in the end, I have to say he brought it upon himself.'"

Deed restrictions or not, the result is the same. Shame on those people!  They should have helped the man out.  If they couldn't resod the lawn for him, then they should have quietly raised the funds and somehow gotten it done for him.

And that's all I have to say about that!

http://TulsaRealEstateWeb.com

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Show All Comments Sort:
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Hi -- this post caught my eye -- I grew up in Tulsa and most of my family is still in Tulsa.  Glad to know that people are still friendly and willing to help a neighbor.

Oct 13, 2008 04:34 AM
Debbie Durkee
National Land Realty - Tulsa, OK
ALC, CRS -- Land & Country Estates near Tulsa

Thank you for your comment, Joan.  You're right.  Tulsa really is a wonderful place to live and raise children.  The people around Northeast Oklahoma make this a really good place to list and sell property.  I started to say, "What's keeping you from coming back down?" and then I saw you were from New Hampshire.  I've only been there twice and I wouldn't even try to tear you away when the leaves are so beautiful.  But come the end of October and into November -- that's when we love Oklahoma.  The weather is so fabulous here in the Spring and in the Fall -- especially if  you like riding horses.

Oct 13, 2008 12:24 PM