Cheap Homes for Sale to Lower Income Families in Louisiana

Cheap homes for sale will become available to lower-income residents of Alexandria, a city near the Red River in Louisiana.

The city has formed a nonprofit agency called AURA – which stands for Alexandria Urban Renewal Association – to work with the city Office of Community Development to rejuvenate neighborhoods and to help lower-income families own homes.

The Alexandria affordable housing program under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program is among the most unique NSP programs because aside from forming a nonprofit, the program also uses the bulk of its funding for building affordable apartments and single-family homes, in contrast to other NSP-funded programs that focus on purchasing foreclosed properties, fixing them and reselling them.

According to Brenda Ray, community development manager for the city, Alexandria has received a total of $3.9 million in NSP funds. The city has planned to spend $1.25 million for converting the Dominique-Miller barn into 56 apartments, $1.65 for building 33 affordable houses, and $1 million for acquiring distressed properties for its land bank program.

Under the land bank program, the city will acquire abandoned foreclosed properties – those that have been vacant for a long time and have been causing blight in communities – and convert them into functional but cheap homes for sale to families that could not afford to buy homes without government assistance.

Of the 33 houses to be built in Alexandria, 30 units will be built by Lafayette-based B.R. Collins Construction and three units will be built by Habitat for Humanity. The houses will be offered to prospective buyers earning certain percentages of the median household income in Alexandria. A four-member family earning less than $57,750 can qualify under the program. Families earning far below the median income can qualify for the Habitat homes.

City officer Ray said that each buyer can receive up to $45,000 in financial assistance from the NSP funds. She added that without the federal funding, the city would not be able to jumpstart the program, but city officials hope to continue the project even after the exhaustion of federal funds.

Council officials Myron Lawson and Jonathan Goins said they are supporting the program because it is one effective way to improve property values and to enhance life for residents throughout the city.

In addition to providing cheap homes for sale to lower-income families, Lawson also reiterated the need for the city to make families safe and secure by lowering the crime rate in the city.

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