Habitat Puts Foreclosed Homes to Good Use

While others are making a hefty profit out of the sale of renovated foreclosures, the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity remodels to put families back into affordable homes.

With foreclosure numbers reaching a record high and federal government handing out incentives to renovate vacant houses, affiliates of Habitat in Atlanta have risen up to the challenge of revamping abandoned houses. More affiliates are also planning to canvass potential houses in communities receiving the federal grants.

One of these communities is Coweta where there are 900 distressed properties costing as low as $30,000. Habitat is now working with local housing authority to acquire 20 vacated homes and sell each of them for below $98,000. The low cost could mean a double increase of families put into homes for the coming years.

The organization’s new homes may also be found in high-end communities where developers with unfinished lots and homeowners in the brink of foreclosure are looking for a sale.

Seventy million of federal money is expected to go into Atlanta communities to rehabilitate properties. This is part of the Neighborhood Stabilization program approved by congress in late 2008.

Right now, the challenge for Habitat is how to acquire affordable homes which are the right size and in the right condition. A traditional Habitat home is 1,200 to 1,500 square feet, and Habitat budget for each is around $90,000-$140,000.

However, revamping work is still less inspiring for volunteers than the work entailed in building a new home. Still, Habitat views increasing foreclosures as a chance to put families in houses during a period when donations are low. Habitat Executive Director and President John Kerwood said that the organization is even hoping to acquire a small subdivision of around 10 lots.

According to Kathleen Field, director of community development in Roswell City, habitat’s home ownership program which revamps foreclosed homes stabilizes the neighborhood. Aside from being more affordable, a renovated home would also mean a shorter waiting period for those in Habitat’s wait list.

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