The Lucas County Land Bank will receive $2 million in grants from the Welcome Home Ohio program to buy and rehabilitate eight additional homes.
Historic South Initiative will also get $59,274 in tax credits for the rehabilitation of one home in Toledo’s Old South End neighborhood as part of the program.
The grant and tax credits are being awarded to projects in 10 counties in the state to help improve affordable housing access in Ohio. The funding is part of the third round of the program, which is investing a total of $100 million in grants over two years to help land banks purchase, rehabilitate, or build qualifying residential properties for income-eligible people.
An additional $25 million in tax credits is available to land banks and eligible developers for rehab and new construction projects once a property sells.
David Mann, president and CEO of the land bank, said the agency plans to use the grant to buy the houses and begin renovations in 2025.
It already has bought houses with funds from a grant it received as part of the first round of the program in May. The land bank, in partnership with Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, received $1.1 million in grants in the first round to buy eight residential properties and $240,000 in grants to rehabilitate those properties.
“We are currently working on that,” Mr. Mann said. “Our plan is to purchase up to 16 houses with all the grant money we’ve been awarded. We’re doing that methodically; we’re not just rushing out. We started purchasing houses this summer, and it’s going to continue into next year.”
There is a $30,000 cap for renovation, which limits the selection, he added.
“One of the things we’ve been working on is trying to identify homes that do not need a lot of renovation because spending $30,000 on a house goes real quickly,” he said.
The Welcome Home Ohio program will help create long-term affordable housing opportunities in single-family homes.
“The legislature created it last year, partly to help make sure people who are looking to become homeowners don’t get outcompeted by investors who have a lot of money and can buy up homes, then rent them, which takes properties out of the market,” Mr. Mann said. “This is a chance for counties working with land banks to help create opportunities for those looking for affordable housing.”
“Now that we bought them,” Mr. Mann said of the five homes already purchased, “we have to go in and do some of the renovation work. That’s what is going to take us into next year.”
Three of the houses were purchased in West Toledo and two in South Toledo.
“The first house we bought was at a sheriff’s sale for back taxes. You buy those sight unseen. That was the best deal that we got. But the house needs a lot of work,” he said. “Some of the others we bought, we were able to work with local Realtors and buy them Those give us a better shot of identifying properties that are great opportunities but also don’t need a tremendous amount of renovation. We’re using the grant to do that but we might be able to stretch that grant even further if we are able to get the right kind of deals.”
Four of the five houses the land bank bought were sold by the owner. The other was abandoned, Mr. Mann said.
Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity will help the land bank identify potential homeowners
“We expect to sell the houses to new homeowners participating in Habitat’s program,” he said.
Habitat will provide a zero-percent interest loan to those in the program, which will make everything more affordable in the long haul, said Erin McPartland, executive director of Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity.
There currently is a waiting list of nearly 100 people looking for houses, she said.
“There is a big homeowners waiting list,” she said. “There is an extreme lack of affordable housing. People contact us every day to get on the list. We only have the capacity to do about eight homes per year.”
Habitat services people who are 80 percent and below the area’s median income in Toledo, which is about $65,000 per year, she said.
“It may seem like a lot, but not when you consider the average price of a house for sale in the Toledo area is currently over $200,00. So it’s hard to afford homes in our housing market,” she said.
“The creation of new housing is also expensive,” she added. “Right now, it costs an average of $215,000 to build a new house with 1,200 square feet in Toledo.”
In addition to partnering with Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, the land bank may simply offer houses for sale after they have been renovated, Mr. Mann said. They can only be sold to people with certain income restrictions.
“Anyone who buys one of these houses has to live there for at least five years,” he said. “There are certain other expectations in exchange for this opportunity. But, unlike any normal sale, it’s not that you just offer the best price, and we sell it to you. There’s more that is put into this program that we need to make sure it’s done correctly.”
First Published November 3, 2024, 3:05 p.m.