Houses for Sale!

It's a drag owning empty, never-lived-in homes . . . for four years. But that's what we've got at CMCA. For the record though, one of them is finally under contract. We're working to find a mortgage lender willing to take a little risk with our buyer (and who understands this kind of funding arrangement) but it's looking like we're going to get this one out from under our belt. As a community housing development organization, or CHDO, we get some funds from the City to help finance the construction of these homes and to help provide some down payment assistance. Even with that though, we can't just give them away. Being non-profit doesn't mean we don't worry about money. Generally when we build a home we like to make enough profit (about 10%) that we can start building another one. Non-profit DOES mean that we're not lining our pockets with income generated from home sales. :) That's one way the city supports affordable housing development. Fund one and start a chain reaction of new, affordable home development. Break that chain, though, and you've got a problem. Welcome to CMCA. With the best of intentions, homes were built in neighborhoods that may not support their sale, for a variety of reasons. Then, the agency (formerly known as CMCHDC) goes through massive upheaval to address some management issues and comes out of it with 75% of it's top managers replaced over a three year period. Unfortunately, that meant that those houses were not the top priority, survival and then revival were top on our minds. That's not to say houses elsewhere weren't moving. We sold four houses in Fulton during that time for example (where management did not change, and in an area with little crime and other new houses nearby). Anyway, we're stable again and trying to get back to the high ideals we have for ourselves and our communities. We just completed another new home on Haden drive (in partnership with Youthbuild) on a street just north of Vandiver Dr. that is lined with beautiful Habit for Humanity built homes. This one will go fast, and so will the one we'll start building next to it in the spring. In the meantime, we're listing our other central city house with a realtor and asking just enough to break even. If you know anyone on the market, give them my name.