Cook County Land Bank Authority Marks 200th Home Rehab Milestone in Communities Hit by Foreclosure Crisis
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Through this new initiative, about 30 to 40 CCLBA properties are available to prospective owner-occupants at below-market prices. The homes, which primarily run between $50,000 and $170,000, are located in neighborhoods such as Avalon Park, Roseland and South Shore. Homeownership is one of the primary ways Americans accumulate wealth, and a recent Harvard study shows Black homeownership rates in Chicago have dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s. Launched in early 2013 by the Cook County Board, the land bank has acquired 23 foreclosed properties through either donation or below-market pricing from lenders or Freddie Mac. But several of the land bank’s properties were more in need of cosmetic changes than complete rehabs. Rehabbers weren’t as interested in less-blighted properties because the projects would not produce the desired returns.
The CCLBA strongly encourages you to view these questions in order to understand all aspects of the program before applying for a specific property. Please click the link found below, orclick here for a downloadable PDF. "We're a young agency, but we're trying to do our part to help revitalize these neighborhoods. We think this is one way to do it to get people excited about home ownership. We're focused on transforming neighborhood and improving lives through home ownership." Rose is showing a new property at 7627 Merrill Ave. in the South Shore Neighborhood that sat vacant for nearly five years.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Listing for sale the two rehabbed homes next spring, then selling them, will validate that a land bank can succeed in Cook County, as it has in other cities and counties hard-hit by foreclosures and abandoned homes. The goal is to obtain properties in areas that may be risky but are ripe for a turnaround, clear title to them and find a suitable developer, a process that's more laborious than it sounds, said land bank Executive Director Brian White. Since its founding in 2013, the land bank has identified 13 city neighborhoods and 13 west and south suburbs where it sees potential, and has been acquiring vacant homes to sell.
"That allows the equity to stay with these people of color who've grown up in those areas." It's just one of the 30 to 40 homes the Cook County Land Bank Authority is putting up for sale as part of a new program designed to promote homeownership by selling vacant, dilapidated, tax-delinquent homes directly to homeowners. Of those, 346 homes have been sold to developers and 167 have been rehabbed. It’s just one of the 30 to 40 homes the Cook County Land Bank Authority is putting up for sale as part of a new program designed to promote homeownership by selling vacant, dilapidated, tax-delinquent homes directly to homeowners. To date, CCLBA has sold over 400 homes to community-based developers for rehab. Projections show the Land Bank will have facilitated over $18 million in new home value in this market, homes that will then generate equity for families for years to come.
VIEW HOMEBUYER HOMES
The lender plans to issue a request for proposals from other for-profit and nonprofit developers, with a track record, that are interested in getting involved, said Geoffrey Koss, a managing director at PrivateBank. "We're being opportunistic, where we have opportunity to work in scale or turn around the worst house on the block," White said. "We want people to see that these homes that considered to be blighted, nuisance properties are really just waiting for the right developer to put the right attention to it and turn it around. It'll prove the model does work." In the past few years, investors, including large publicly traded funds, have descended on a wide swath of the Chicago area's housing market, snapping up foreclosed homes, bidding up the sales prices, paying cash and amassing large portfolios of rental homes.
In the past few years, investors, including large publicly traded funds, have descended on a wide swath of the Chicago area’s housing market, snapping up foreclosed homes, bidding up the sales prices, paying cash and amassing large portfolios of rental homes. Potential homebuyers can work with a broker, and homes may be purchased via cash or financing. If these two test-case houses prove successful, PrivateBank and the land bank want to expand it, quickly.
SOUTH SUBURBAN MAYORS & MANAGERS ASSOCIATION
The CCLBA’s earned income from FY2016 to FY2017, the second year the Land Bank has fostered these home rehabs, is projected to have increased approximately 125 percent. In July, the land bank's strategy took a big step forward when The PrivateBank committed $10 million in purchase-rehab financing to qualified entities that acquire homes from the land bank. Most of the homes in the land bank’s program are in Avalon Park, Roseland and South Shore. In July 2013, Attorney General Madigan’s office allocated $70 million across 54 nonprofit organizations and agencies that had submitted plans to reduce community blight caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. These funds came from Illinois’ portion of the $25 billion national settlement negotiated in February 2012 by federal authorities, state attorneys general and five of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing banks.
All properties eligible for the program are listed below, and will be updated on a daily basis going forward. This new initiative lets CCLBA reach out directly to the home buyers, who then can guide the development process and in turn transform neighborhoods. Founded in 2013, CCLBA works to empower local developers, community groups and potential homeowners by giving them tools to transform their own communities from within. The CCLBA obtains tax delinquent properties for rehab and sells them at below market rates to qualified, community-based developers to lead the rehab work.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County Land Bank to sell first 2 homes to developers
CHICAGO -- Cook County is launching a new program that will allow more people to become homeowners. The dark brick home in Auburn Gresham, once used as a two-flat, has been vacant for more than two years and, at times, has been unsecured, according to reports filed with the city. On the plus side, it is large, the basement is dry, there’s a bit of nice molding around some doorways and there are no signs of squatters or animals. The Crusader Newspaper Group consists of two weekly newspapers in Illinois and Indiana featuring news, commentary, and lifestyle reporting geared toward the African American community.
The Cook County Land Bank Authority, on behalf of Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and CCLBA Chairwoman Bridget Gainer, is excited to announce the launch of the Homebuyer Direct Program! The focus of this program lies in reaching out to prospective homeowners who may be interested in directly purchasing, rehabbing, and ultimately living in the home of their dreams! With this in mind, the CCLBA is looking to offer properties throughout Cook County to prospective owner-occupants at below-market prices. This could be a perfect opportunity for you to engage in the purchase/rehab, finish it to your taste, and build in some equity!
When completed, the home will have four bedrooms, 21/2 bathrooms, central air-conditioning and a kitchen with granite countertops and oak cabinetry. If the home sells for more than $155,000, the land bank will get an additional $8,000 from Alpine. The goal is to obtain properties in areas that may be risky but are ripe for a turnaround, clear title to them and find a suitable developer, a process that’s more laborious than it sounds, said land bank Executive Director Brian White. And in the case of residential property, that developer is preferably someone who will sell the rehabbed home as an affordable, owner-occupied home, not as a rental property.
The land bank aims to make a long-term impact on neighborhoods hit hard by the housing crisis by filling abandoned homes with homeowners, not just renters, said Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, D-Chicago, chairwoman of the land bank. "The Homebuyer Direct Program will now allow us to sell directly to homeowners," said Robert Rose, executive director of the Cook County Land Bank Authority. "We are able to take these fixer uppers and offer them to homeowners to below market prices, give them a chance to build equity, and to customize it to make it their own." In July, the land bank’s strategy took a big step forward when The PrivateBank committed $10 million in purchase-rehab financing to qualified entities that acquire homes from the land bank. Other banks have donated properties and demolition funds, but PrivateBank is the first to make a direct investment with the land bank in communities, White said. Bank of America donated the property to the land bank, and this week, Alpine Capital Realty Group, a local firm that has rehabbed homes, is expected to close on the $3,000 purchase of the home and start a gut rehab.
Answers to homebuyers’ frequently asked questions, recommendations for lenders and down payment assistance and an application for the program are all listed on the CCLBA website. Details on how to apply for the giveaway home also are available on the site. They will be the first vacant houses to be overhauled and put up for sale as part of the Cook County Land Bank Authority's ambitious, long-awaited effort to stabilize communities by ridding them of eyesores and attracting new residents and businesses. The first houses as part of a county land bank program are being transferred to developers for rehab and resale.
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