Housing Tip of the Week - Clarity on the $1 house sales

Last week, the Board of Estimates approved a fixed price policy for selling city-owned vacant and abandoned homes, including for $1. Some of my constituents have already asked about how they can get a house for a $1.

This has been an ongoing discussion regarding this new policy. While I agree with fixed pricing for all vacant properties, I have some serious concerns about how this will roll out. I am concerned that there is no aid for residents who would like to rehab a home. It will take close to $220,000 in some cases to do so. This is definitely not like the dollar house program from the 1980s.

I am also concerned about who will get the properties through the Buy into Bmore website and how we can hold developers who get the properties accountable for actually doing the work, since we have never used the reverter clause in the Land Disposition Agreements.

Last, we have to be intentional in our disposition of vacant properties. In Rem is designed so that we can have control of the outcome of the property. We can truly have mixed income communities by working with key partners.

We have been having a very public dialogue with the Mayor’s Office and Department of Housing and Community Development. I testified at the March 6th Board of Estimates meeting, but was unable to testify at the March 20 meeting when the policy took effect.

You can find my letter preceding the March 20 meeting here.