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molotovPopsicle t1_jdkysfd wrote

yes. my friend did it in the late 90s/early 2000's time period in Canton and it worked out well for them. they ended up moving once they had kids though because it was too small for the whole family. they definitely made money off of it in the end though

i think the issue is mostly location, and also luck in terms of the cost of repair. you can plan for some of that, but there are always going to be surprises

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S-Kunst t1_jdm08lr wrote

I know two people who rehabbed a $1 house ,each, in DC in the 1970s.

They said the project was only possible as the banks were provided guarantees (by the Fed Gov) to make first and 2nd mortgages, without the fear of loosing money if the homeowner defaulted. Also the houses were first for owner occupied, then they opened it to some small time developers. Restrictions were applied to prevent flippers from giving the places a coat of paint, and reselling in a coupe weeks.

My understanding of the Baltimore project, is that it was similar to the DC plan. Lending institutions do not want to loan large sums of money for a shack. But with FED & State backing they did make loans.

Both people in DC, I knew, felt that the program was a success until they had settled into their newly rehabbed houses. It was then that the city zapped them with high property tax. Not so bad for the person who did a row house in a strip of houses which were in different conditions, but the guy who renovated a single family home on 16th street NW, not too many block from the Maryland line. The new tax on that house made it too expensive to live in, for the owner and he had to sell. Not at a loss, but not at a fat profit either.

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YorickTheCat t1_jdmdn17 wrote

I've chatted a few times with someone who did it in the late 1970's in Barre Circle. Lot's of stops and starts, problems with contractors, etc. Interesting stories about her and her neighbor's rehabs. In the end it was worth it. She still lives there.

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YorickTheCat t1_jdn70ty wrote

Replying to smilodon138 (#2,355,523)

Could be. She's a wealth of info about the program; has been interviewed in the past for news articles, etc. And yeah, me neither; I wish. Edit: I overlooked the link someone posted to a podcast on Spotify. I was referring to Judy.

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S-Kunst t1_jdoggyk wrote

I forgot to add. In the mid 80s , when I bought my first city home. I went through a non-profit (Neighborhood Housing). They as with several housing non profits, were trying to stabilize neighborhoods and entice people wanting a fixer-upper for a low price to move in. I secured a nice duplex on a dead end street. I could have gone through Neighbood for a loan and they would help organize a 2nd mortgage with a lending institution. But the state had a program (CDA?) where I was able to secure a mortgage as a first time home buyer and one for a city house, at a reasonable rate.

It was a great house in a very mixed neighborhood. But as the city started to demolish the high rise projects, the neighborhood was flooded with many poor people in a fragile neighborhood, who needed many social support services, but got thrown to the slumlords who were gobbling up the fixer upper houses.

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YorickTheCat t1_jdtmumb wrote

Replying to ccsve (#2,382,399)

It is! Unexpectedly cool since the outside looks like a typical row house. There are quite a few like that in BC. Some people really did neat things with their dollar house rehabs.

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