Making it Work: Disposition Strategies webinar

This thread is part of a four-part webinar series intended to provide practical information on key areas that have proven to be challenging for those attempting to implement neighborhood stabilization plans. Sessions in the series will be useful to NSP grantees and partners as well as others who are working on this issue.
Click here to learn more about the series.

This session will focus on disposition strategies for NSP properties.

Join us on Tuesday, September 29 from 2 - 4:00 p.m. EDT to learn more about lease-purchase programs, for-sale subsidies, and long-term rental strategies using the LIHTC. A representative from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority will discuss their rationale and process to develop mortgage assistance programs and marketing strategies to further NSP efforts. Best program practices and recommendations on how to set up similar programs will also be shared.

Part 1: Webinar – This two-part event begins at 2:00 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) with a 1-hour webinar featuring Ben Nichols from the Cleveland office of Enterprise Community Partners and Chris Pahule, Assistant Director of Community Development at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Part 2: Interact with the speakers - Immediately following the webinar, from 3 - 4:00 p.m. EDT, the speakers will be on the Forum to answer your questions. All questions should be posted to this thread, and you are welcome to post at any time leading up to or during the event. Questions will be answered on a first-come, first-served basis until time runs out, so post early to be sure yours is addressed.

A recording of the online portion of this event is available on NHC's Open House blog.

The 'Making it Work' series is a collaboration between Enterprise Community Partners, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the National Housing Conference, the National Community Stabilization Trust and NeighborWorks America.

Tags: live at the forum

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sharon Price on September 29, 2009 at 1:46pm

QUESTION FROM PARTICIPANT:

Are you including NSP projects where the acquisition, rehab, and delivery costs are greater than the fair market value? If you are, what means are you using to provide the subsidy gap between the fair market value and total cost?

Permalink Reply by Ben Nichols on September 29, 2009 at 2:03pm

In Cleveland, we do have a subsidy gap and are filling it with several sources including: the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the Federal Home Loan Bank.

Permalink Reply by Alicia Lewis on September 29, 2009 at 2:04pm

so, (in Cleveland or CA) are NSP funds not being used as gap financing when the appraisal falls short of the proposed sales price?

Also, what's the arrangement (terms of participation, amount of funds per unit, etc.) btwn Cleveland and the Federal Home Loan Bank?

Permalink Reply by Ben Nichols on September 29, 2009 at 2:11pm

We are falling short of total development costs and we are using NSP from the City as a source of gap financing.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Price on September 29, 2009 at 1:47pm

QUESTION FROM PARTICIPANT:

How can a realtor with a mortgage ready borrower participate, and would they still receive a commission?

Permalink Reply by Rose Cade on September 29, 2009 at 3:27pm

In the VHB model Realtor's representing the buyer are advised to check their website to see when homes become available for sale. There is a sellers agent associated with each home. VHB does allow commission for both the sellers agent and the buyers agent.

Permalink Reply by Amanda Sheldon Roberts on September 30, 2009 at 10:02am

Our buyers can use their own realtor. The buyer would still go through the process of Homebuyers Education and an individual counseling session. Once they have met the requirements they would be placed on the waiting for the city they live/reside in. If they wind up purchasing an NSP home, the buyer’s side of the deal would get a 3% commission, which is the norm in our part of California.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Price on September 29, 2009 at 1:47pm

QUESTION FROM PARTICIPANT:

What is the cap you're setting on the number of qualified buyers for the NSP homes? (Clearly you can't have 1,000 people waiting on a list for the "few" homes that will come out of it - is it just first-come first served based on their place on the list?)

Permalink Reply by Amanda Sheldon Roberts on September 30, 2009 at 10:01am

The way we started was to have a meeting for all residents of the city we were working in who had already taken their Homebuyers Education class who were interested in an NSP home. At the meeting, we had a lottery so that each person was assigned a number. If they couldn’t make the meeting but were still interested in an NSP home, we pulled a number for them by proxy. When the first home came along, we started from the top of the list to see who was the first person on the list who could afford that particular home. If they wanted it, they could make a purchase offer. If they didn’t want it, we would move on the next person on the list. We allow a person to pass three times on homes they can afford before we put them back into the general rotation. This is how we established the initial waiting list for each city. As people continue to come into the program and are interested in an NSP home, once they have completed their requirements, we place them next on the list. So far, we don’t have the problem of having too many buyers on the waiting list because you always have some fallout, even when you have a list of qualified buyers. I suppose at some point, we would say that we aren’t taking any more applicants so that people don’t get too frustrated. I’m not sure what the magic number is for cutoff, but it might be somewhere around the point when we have 5 to 6 times more buyers than homes. Also, NSP is a program where funds continue to be recycled, so this program will go on for several years, and then will be followed by NSP Round 2.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Price on September 29, 2009 at 1:47pm

QUESTION FROM PARTICIPANT:

Who owns the homes before sale in the VHB example?

Permalink Reply by Rose Cade on September 29, 2009 at 3:23pm

The homes are owned initially by lenders and servicers and purchased by Visionary Home Builders to rehab and ultimately sell to owner occupants.

Permalink Reply by Amanda Sheldon Roberts on September 30, 2009 at 10:02am

All NSP homes must be vacant, foreclosed properties currently owned by a lender. As an NSP partner to the City of Stockton and to San Joaquin County, we purchase the home directly from the lender using their NSP funds.