Margert in the News

Foreclosed Homes Can be Good Deals: Bargains for Buyers
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LaTina Emerson
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)
January 18, 2009

Buying a foreclosure property was Amanda Rasch's only hope of owning her own home.

After fleeing New Orleans to escape Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Ms. Rasch, her husband and two children lived with her parents in a small Augusta house purchased with her parents' Federal Emergency Management Agency evacuee housing vouchers.

Money was tight, but they were able to start looking for a home in late 2007.

In April, they bought a four-bedroom house in Martinez for $111,000. It had been valued at $135,000. Real estate agents say similar deals are available on foreclosure property throughout the Augusta area.

The Rasch family bought their home through Century 21 agent Jeff Keller III. Mr. Keller said homes that are available because a bank foreclosed on a previous owner sell for a "wholesale price."

Buyers can find foreclosure properties up to 40 percent off their market value, he explained.

He tells clients who prefer not to buy foreclosures that they're "probably cutting out easily 50 percent of the marketplace in Richmond County, as opposed to North Augusta, Columbia, McDuffie or Jefferson."

The process for buying a foreclosure property through a real estate agent is the same as a normal purchase. Buyers must verify their income, have good credit and be able to show they can make their mortgage payments, said Bob Hale, the owner of Bob Hale Realty on Deans Bridge Road.

SHORT SALES, OR pre-foreclosures, allow potential buyers to bargain with the mortgage company.

"Mortgage companies do short sales when they don't want to keep them on their books," said Augusta broker Ira Tindall, the owner of RE/MAX Masters on Washington Road.

Usually, the mortgage holder is willing to take a lower price for the home. For instance, it might sell a $200,000 home for $180,000 simply to get rid of it, Mr. Tindall said.

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Margert Releases Strategic Plan and Housing Agenda for 2009
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January 9, 2009

Far Rockaway, NY...At its regularly scheduled monthly meeting last night, the board of directors of Margert Community Corporation formally approved its three-year strategic plan (2008-2011) for its neighborhood preservation activities in Far Rockaway, Queens.

Funded by the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal as a Neighborhood Preservation Company back in the 1980's, this strategic plan is an integral component in re-certifying the agency as eligible for continuing participation in the program.

"We've always engaged in strategic planning at Margert,"  says executive director Joseph G. Barden, "but the NPP re-certification process has served to re-focus our attention on the needs of Far Rockaway, our immediate service area."

Dated July 1, 2008, the report begins:

       Faithful to our mission and the needs of the Rockaway community, Margert Community Corporation (MCC) has drafted this 2008 strategic plan of neighborhood preservation services, for approval by the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). These goals and objectives have been arrived at through informed consensus of our Board of Directors, with the active participation of the community at large, other community and faith-based organizations, and local municipal entities and elected officials. The Executive Director of our organization has been authorized to design, implement and arrange funding for the activities required to produce the desired outcomes.

       As per Margert’s mission as a community-based, nonprofit, housing assistance agency, our strategic goals are to preserve the existing stock of safe, decent and affordable housing, develop new affordable housing opportunities, promote successful and responsible tenancy, provide equal access to homeownership opportunities, improve residential health, safety and energy affordability, narrow the “digital divide,” and promote professionalism and standardization in the delivery of housing services to the communities we serve.

       Furthermore, we are dedicated to continuing our efforts to break down existing barriers to equal opportunity, combat predatory sales and lending practices, and reduce the number of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures in our communities.

Download and read the entire report

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Partnership To Rehab, Resell Foreclosed Homes
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The Wave, By Miriam Rosenberg

The grant comes from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, which was authorized under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

"We are focusing on the areas hardest hit by foreclosure," said Mary Oyedijo, of HPDC. "We just sold our first home in Far Rockaway."

Oyedijo pointed out that many foreclosed homes become abandoned, destabilizing the neighborhoods they're in.

The NSP allows the Housing Partnership to revitalize properties and offer them for resale.

"We're basically going after the first time homebuyer," said Oyedijo. "The young woman who bought the house in Far Rockaway is the first in her family to be a homeowner."

The recently sold house is a two-family home with a garage, driveway and basement. Oyedijo called it three over three - three bedrooms and two bathrooms on both floors.

"It sold almost immediately," said the Housing Partnership representative.

The NSP program began in May of last year. Oyedijo said that her organization acquired one property in the 11691 area and has a home for sale in Jamaica. She added that with the New Year they're "going to look at what is out there" and that buying more homes for rehabilitation and sale in the Far Rockaway area is "more than likely our plan."

The monies are allocated under HUD's Community Development Block Grant program. The nationwide price tag of $3.92 million is for cities that have felt the worst effects of the downturn in the housing market, with foreclosures, abandoned properties and declining property values.

Margert Community Corporation is an approved housing counseling agency for the Housing Partnership Development Corporation, and a local program administrator for the NYS DHCR HOME purchase assistance program.

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Governor Announces $48 Million Increase for Weatherization Assistance
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Monday, 26 January 2009

Governor David A. Paterson has just announced that New York would receive an additional $48 million in federal funding for the State’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), bringing this year’s total amount of available federal funds to $108 million.

The grants are administrated by the State’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and funds are allocated to community-based organizations – including Neighborhood Preservations Companies and Rural Preservation Companies – which provide weatherization services.

The funds are expected to help nearly 21,600 low-income seniors, individuals and families make their homes more energy efficient this year. DHCR is working aggressively to make $6 million immediately available so that New Yorkers in need can warm their households this winter.

“This increase to the New York State Weatherization Assistance Program comes at a time when many New Yorkers worry about the rising cost energy,” Governor Paterson said. “These funds will make a real difference in New York by helping to keep low-income homes heated this winter and cooled this summer, as well as bringing us closer to an energy-efficient future.”

DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen said: “DHCR is moving swiftly to make certain as many households as possible will get the help they need to reduce their energy consumption and costs. Our sub-grantees provide a range of services to address the needs of working families, seniors, and persons with disabilities throughout the State. We are also working closely with the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA) to help target Weatherization Assistance to residents of high need, like the elderly and disabled.”

Margert Community Corporation is the NYS DHCR Weatherization Assistance Program subgrantee serving south Queens.

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