(CM) Adding and critiquing > Home Ownership: > > I would like to see a program where low income people could get their down > payment (anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000) paid by the city.
(CM) This better be a pilot program. What happens if everyone with who gets turned down for a loan else where moves into your city. Do it by lottery by those who have been pre-qualified. Impacted neighborhoods first. This is > substantially less expensive than the per unit costs of rehab or new > construction under the name of affordable housing. (CM) AMEN! The city is spending something over 100k per affordable unit. The city could even put > a lien against the property for the amount of the down payment. At any > point that the title is transferred; refinancing, sale, gift, whatever, the > money would be returned to the city and used again to help someone else. (CM) Make sure the house is worth something before purchase. Over the years the various government agencies have held mortgages worth in excess of the house. The house sits in "inventory". The house burns, gets wrecked, gets looted, etc. Often with the compliance, negligence, overt, covert knowledge of city agencies. MADE, MOHAN city of Maples, Hen Co. Circa 1980's -1999. personally believe that the down payment can be one of the biggest hurdles > to home ownership. When money is tight, there is no way to set aside the > extra that is needed to get into a house. Loans for a down payment just > increase the burden even more to those who are already struggling. (CM) I would cut back on the program in tougher times. Fully fund during good times. > > Rental Housing: > > I really like the idea of "rent stamps" so that the people who qualify for > them can have some kind of meaningful choice as to where they want to live. (CM) Rent stamps would work if the overhead and overbossing is kept to a minimum. BTW, don't ask the current administrators what the 'minimum' should be. They are not programmed to work themselves out of a job. > Another option whould be to allow boarding and/or rooming houses again. > This is a very efficient means of sharing space. It offers a home owner, > with extra space, the opportunity to get some extra income and provides the > renter (especially single people) with a truly affordable option. I lived > in a boarding house some years ago and absolutely loved it. This becomes risky business in our modern crime apologetic city. Can't tell you how many senior,severely limited income ladies I've advised over the years. Some were physically injured by their tenants. Just terrible to see that happen. They still had to go through the torturous legal process to get the bad guy out. Boarding houses should have instant eviction power. No bones about it. They call a cop and out goes the tenant. Ageing widows should not be excluded from rental income by violence. Thanks to Catherine for letting me butt in. Craig Miller Rogers Former Affordable housing provider on the north side. [EMAIL PROTECTED] TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
