Affordable Communities of Texas Initiative
Highlights
TSAHC’s board has approved the allocation of $3.2 million in ACT funding to be utilized by 6 local partners across Texas. TSAHC is still seeking local partners, both nonprofit and local government entities, to participate in the ACT program under our Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant from the State of Texas. TSAHC will continue to accept applications from qualified local partners until all of our NSP funding has been allocated. Here is a link to our RFP and application:
RFP for Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Overview
The ACT program strives to stabilize neighborhoods and communities facing high rates of foreclosure by using land banking and land trust strategies to preserve housing assets and increase the supply of permanent affordable housing. The ACT accomplishes these goals by working with locally based nonprofit and government entities. Local partners utilize TSAHC’s foreclosure listing services to identify available properties in select neighborhoods in their communities.
The ACT program provides several benefits to our local partners, including:
- TSAHC provides its local partners exclusive access to foreclosure listings from more than 10 national and regional financial institutions
- TSAHC can front the cost of inspections, appraisals and purchase options
- TSAHC reduces holding costs so that local partners can focus on renovating and marketing properties to qualified low-income households
- TSAHC can, on a case by case basis, provide short-term construction financing and demolition funds
The ACT program can provide a variety of other resources for local partners, including land bank management services and acquisition processing for local NSP programs. If you are interested in becoming a local partner in the ACT program please contact the program manager, David Danenfelzer at: ACTinfo@tsahc.org, or by phone at 512-477-3555 ext. 403. Below are links to the program’s policies, application and associated materials.
ACT Updated Policies 8.14.09
ACT Local Partner Application
Neighborhood Stabilization Program - Round One
TSHAC’s board has approved six locally based nonprofit entities to help us identify and redevelop foreclosed properties using our NSP grant from the State of Texas. Here is a summary of the local partners that have been approved, as of December 11, 2009.
Accessible Housing Austin. Founded in 2005, Accessible Housing Austin! (“AHA!) is a City of Austin recognized community housing development organization that operates single family rental housing for persons with disabilities and other services through its parent organization UCP Texas. Together the two organizations have assisted over 370 individuals to purchase homes, complete barrier removal for households with disabilities, and provide first time homebuyer assistance through the Texas Home of Your Own program. The organizations are also nationally recognized innovators in the HUD Section 811 Integrated Rental Housing program. Their program focuses on creating integrated housing opportunities for persons with disabilities through the utilization of Section 811 funding in scattered site condominium acquisitions.
AHA! will be targeting acquisitions in the Austin and Pflugerville areas. While a specific targeted neighborhood has not been identified there are several pockets in northeast Austin and Pflugerville with rates of foreclosure above 15%. AHA! will be seeking to acquire properties from $40k to $70k in price with a goal of five to seven homes in a very compact area. This strategy will allow AHA! and the Corporation to have a more significant impact on market instability in a small area, while providing access to affordable and accessibly rehabilitated homes for low-income persons and families.
Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corporation. Incorporated in 1992, the Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corporation’s (BVAHC) mission is to provide quality services and products to the residents and businesses to encourage community development, economic growth, and general improvement to the standard of living for its clients. In accomplishing this mission BVAHC provides rental opportunities, owner occupied home repair, home construction, housing counseling, down payment assistance and direct lending products for low and moderate income households. BVAHC owns more than 40 units of affordable rental housing, has provided home repairs to more than 300 households, and provides homebuyer education classes to over 200 participants per year.
Brazos Valley Affordable Housing has identified several opportunities in the Bryan/College Station area to purchase foreclosed subdivisions from local banks. The subdivisions were started in 2008 and 2009 and abandoned by their developers after mortgage financing for low and moderate income households dried up. Brazos Valley will focus on developing acquired lots over the next three to five years to benefit low and very low income households.
CDC Brownsville. The Community Development Corporation of Brownsville (“CDCB”) is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit community housing development organization. CDCB has been providing safe, sanitary affordable housing to the citizens of Brownsville, Texas since 1974. CDCB is the largest non profit producer of single family affordable housing for homeownership in the State of Texas and has received over $55,000,000 in Federal, State, and local funds made available for housing in Southern Cameron County. Since 1993 CDCB has built and/or mortgage financed over 2,500 affordable homes in the Southern Cameron County area.
CDCB has identified several opportunities in Cameron county to acquire incomplete housing subdivisions. Focusing on areas outside of the city of Brownsville, CDCB plans to acquire between 50 and 75 housing lots that can be developed over the next 5 years and sold to households earning 50% to 80% of the area median income. This strategy will help those home owners located in incomplete subdivisions to see their home prices stabilize and the completion of planned community services.
DM Ministries Community Development Corporation. DM Ministries Community Development Corporation (“DM Ministries”), is a Texas nonprofit corporation formed in 2006 to provide housing for the elderly and low-income populations, and childcare and supportive services to residents in multifamily housing developments across a 10 county region. DM Ministries is working in partnership with Pineywoods HOME Team, also a nonprofit housing developer, to manage activities related to the ACT program. DM Ministries has developed 15 units of affordable housing in partnership with Pineywoods HOME Team, while Pineywoods has developed more than 300 units of housing and manages more then 250 units over the past 15 years. Both organizations have managed federal and state housing programs and have excellent performance records.
DM Ministries will target acquisitions in the cities of Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas. Each community has seen increases in foreclosure rates among low and very-low income neighborhoods due to high risk mortgage products and local unemployment rates. DM Ministries will focus on acquiring foreclose housing unit and vacant or abandoned lots in neighborhoods near the central core of each city. They anticipate purchasing between 5 to 10 homes for renovation and leasing purposes, and an additional 10 to 15 vacant lots that will be used to develop new for-sale homes for low and very-low income households.
Frameworks CDC. Formed in 2004, Frameworks CDC is a Texas nonprofit corporation that focuses on providing homeowner education and housing services to low and moderate income households. Frameworks CDC’s director of Housing Development, Rory O’Malley has 29 years of experience in affordable housing development. His experience includes both new construction and rehabilitation projects involving single family housing in central Texas. Frameworks manages several federal contracts currently for foreclosure prevention and homeowner education services and is one of the lead agencies involved in the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force.
Frameworks CDC will target acquisitions in east and southeast Austin. They have already identified two target neighborhoods with high rates of foreclosure due to sub prime and high risk mortgage instruments. Frameworks trains more than 50 new families monthly through homebuyer and financial education classes, and intends to use this pipeline to sell rehabbed housing units to. Their allocation of NSP funds will buy between 7 and 10 homes.
Hestia Affordable Development. Hestia Affordable Development is a new nonprofit working on the development of affordably priced housing in Bastrop, Travis and Hays Counties. The organization was created in early 2009 by a group of friends that have all worked in and around the housing development field for many years and believed that the rural communities near Austin were lacking in affordable housing options. Hestia’s staff and directors have been developing affordable housing in Bastrop, Texas over the past two years building new homes at prices ranging from $120k to $150k, Hestia will be able to use their existing product lines to build new homes on foreclosed vacant lots in the City of Bastrop. Hestia will be using $200,000 in NSP funding to purchase approximately 10 to 15 foreclosed housing lots in the Bastrop area.
Motivation Education and Training, Inc. (“MET”). MET is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40 years experience in serving low-income migrant farm worker communities and households. MET provides academic and vocational training to migrant and seasonal farm workers, with the objective of furthering economic self-sufficiency. MET’s offices in Raymondville and Eagle Pass, Texas also provide housing rehab assistance and financing to qualified low-income households. TSAHC will allocate $400,000 to MET for the purpose of purchasing as many as 10 foreclosed home in the city of Pass. MET will renovate purchased homes and market them as either rentals or home ownership opportunities to qualified low-income households.
Texas Community Builders. Texas Community Builders was established in 2000 as a subsidiary development corporation of Business and Community Lenders of Texas, a statewide community development financial institution with more than 20 years of service in low-income communities along the IH-35 corridor. Texas Community Builders currently owns 32 units of affordable rental housing, and has completed seven acquisition/rehabs of single family homes for sale to low and very-low income households in the past three years. Texas Community Builders was approved by the Board as a Local Partner under the Corporation’s NSP-2 application process, and is now requesting $400,000 in NSP-1 funding to acquire foreclosed properties in targeted communities.
Staff is recommending that the Board allocate $400,000 to Texas Community Builders for the purpose of purchasing at least 7 foreclosed homes, rental properties, or vacant lots within their target communities.
United Riverside Rebuilding Corp. The United Riverside Rebuilding Corp. (the “URRC”) is a nonprofit organization focused on providing safe, decent and affordable housing to low and moderate income housing in Fort Worth, Texas. Since 2001, URRC has focused its development efforts in the United Riverside neighborhood, in central east Fort Worth. As a certified community housing development organization, URRC has built and sold 24 single family homes to low and moderate income families, completed repairs for 55 owner-occupied households, and is developing a new acquisition/rehab program for vacant and blighted properties in the United Riverside neighborhood. In addition to construction activities, URRC provides homebuyer education classes and works with other community based programs to provide educational, employment and community development activities for low income residents.
United Riverside has identified 11 homes and vacant properties in its community for acquisition. The list includes tax foreclosed vacant lots, blighted homes to be demolished, and existing foreclosed homes for rehab. All units will be targeted for sale to low-income households.
Finding Properties
TSAHC has become the first statewide partner under the National Community Stabilization Trust (“NCST”). NCST is a national nonprofit organization leading the way in developing policy and program support for communities facing high rates of foreclosure. Under our agreement with the NCST, TSAHC will provide our local partners access to foreclosed property listings from national lenders prior to those properties being listed with local brokers. TSAHC has negotiated standardized purchase agreements, discounts and other terms that will expedite the closing process for our local partners.
TSAHC also has developed direct working relationships with national and regional mortgage lenders and encourages our local partners to utilize every source of foreclosed properties in their community. We also recommend that local partners contact their local tax authority for listings of tax foreclosed properties.
Here is a brief list of other websites where foreclosed properties may be found.
HUD Homes
FDIC
FDIC
FDIC (Indy Mac Properties)
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Bank of America
CitiMortgage
Compass Bank
Regions Bank
Washington Mutual
Wells Fargo
Data Resources
TSAHC is providing links to the following websites for applicants to search and download critical data that is required for their applications. If you need additional assistance please contact us.
Texas A&M Real Estate Center
American Fact Finder
U.S. Census Bureau
Policy Map
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