My Mom works part time for an affordable housing company in Michigan. They purchase houses that are vacant (they can't displace anyone) and in poor shape. They renovate these homes, often replacing full plumbing and windows (codes require them to use energy efficient windows/appliances in the houses), and eventually sell them to lower income homebuyers. In addition to affordable housing they provide resources to the community about taxes and homebuyer education. http://www.npiinc.org/ndc/
In the Commercial Appeal today, there was an article about the same type of idea going on in Memphis. Grant money has allowed for the purchasing of foreclosed houses and for the renovation of such homes.
This particular movement has focused on purchasing these houses, renovating them for the disabled, and taking another vacant house off of the Memphis streets.
I feel like more programs like these should be developed in order to help homebuyers to be able to create better lives for themselves through purchasing a home, because like we talked about yesterday a home not only protects you from the environment is opens different social opportunities to you at the same time.
I believe it is a great idea for the city of Memphis to fund programs that will renovate houses and then in return sale them to low income buyers. As we talked about yesterday, many people rent homes where they spend 30% or more of their income on their home. This is especially a problem for renters because they are not getting anything in return. These people are not building any wealth or assets by doing this. We also discussed how the quantity of housing available to low income buyers is extremely low. By allowing low income buyers to find decent homes, this will allow them to start building assets by paying to own a home, not just simply paying a monthly rental fee. Also, renovating forclosed homes improves the image of the city which has a huge effect in terms of the general public's perception toward of the city. It is also very important that building codes require energy efficient windows and appliances so that the home owner can keep the cost of up keep to a minimum. This is very important for those who have little income and for those who spend 30% or more of their income on their mortgage.
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