By: Deborah Johnson Wood
In the midst of Michigan’s biggest housing slump, one Grand Rapids nonprofit is making sure that the city’s highest at-risk residents are able to purchase safe, attractive homes. That’s nothing new for the folks at the Garfield Development Corporation (GDC)—they’ve been doing that for the past 19 years—but even with 29 home renovations and two new home construction projects under their tool belts, agency leaders wanted to do more.
The GDC’s existing home renovation program, funded by MSHDA and the City of Grand Rapids, enables the GDC to buy a ramshackle house for about $40,000, invest $75,000 in renovations, and sell it for appraised value. It’s a good deal for the buyers, but they don’t get to select the location, the style of house, or the size.
A second program, the Homebuyer Purchase Rehabilitation (HPR) program, allows homebuyers to select the home first. The house must need repair or replacement of major systems like the roof, heating, plumbing, windows or insulation. The program provides up to $30,000 in rehab costs and up to $10,000 in closing costs and a down payment.
"The best example I know is the story of an elderly lady who couldn't have a bedroom upstairs," says Bill Pearl, realtor and general contractor for the program. "With the HPR I can now help her find a house with a bedroom on the main floor, and then do the renovations for her."
Houses must be within the Garfield Park Neighborhood’s boundaries, and homebuyers must take a homeownership counseling class.
"The first HPR grant came online last summer for three houses," Pearl says, "and we’re just wrapping up the second house."
Source: Bill Pearl, Garfield Development Corporation
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at
[email protected].
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