Franklinton group builds new homes in neighborhood

By: Walker

7 Comments

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  JimSweeney April 30, 2008 3:18 pm

  Thanks Walker for posting this.

  Like the story says, we have two more houses just like this one ready to go. We use grants we get the the mortgage amount is only around $85,000 – considerably less than what they cost to build. And taxes are abated for 10 years. Plus, the second and third houses will be on nice boulevards – West Park probably is the widest and longest boulevard in the city. The West Park Avenue house is in the middle of a focus area and will be within 300 feet of 4 new builds and three recent gut rehab projects. We also have a brick house on West Park that we are gut rehabbing and will be available for around $70,000. It has a garage.

  In order to qualify to buy these, you must be earning 80% or less of the area median income, adjusted for family size. For instance, if you are alone you need to be making somewhere between $24,000/yr. (to qualify for the $95,000 bank mortgage) and $36,600 (80% AMI). If you are a family of two the maximum goes up to $41,000.

  Also, there are still special mortgage deals from several banks with great terms if you buy in this and other certain urban zip codes.

  As a term of the grants, our buyers are not permitted to be spending more than about a third of their income on living expences (PITI – principal, interest, taxes and insurance). Whoever buys these places will very likely be spending less on their mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities then they spend now on rent and utilities.

  I know this all sounds kind of convoluted (and there’s more) but the point is to ensure that we are helping people who have been priced out of the new housing market own quality homes at a price that they can sustain. The other point obviously is neighborhood revitalization.

  of course i write all of this in case someone out there may want to take advantage or get involved in some other way.

  Jim
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  Cyclist April 30, 2008 4:03 pm

  JimSweeney wrote Plus, the second and third houses will be on nice boulevards – West Park probably is the widest and longest boulevard in the city.

  What about Berwick Blvd or NW Blvd. ?
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  Ashland April 30, 2008 4:10 pm

  I think WestPark is nicer than either of those. Besides the crackheads it really has some great features. It has 2 lanes that are seperated by a huge area of grass, similar to northwest blvd, but that area of grass is like 10x wider than what Northwest blvd has. I was over there on sunday, and kids play football there, people pull grills out over there, it really could be a great street. It is basically a park in the middle of the street. Get rid of the crackheads and drug dealers, and get a new corner store with a new owner, and you could have one of the nicest streets in columbus.
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  JimSweeney April 30, 2008 4:16 pm

  I guess i should have said the West Park is probably the longest and widest neighborhood/local boulevard in the city. It’s certainly wider than NW Boulevard which i see as more of a collector street.

  i don’t know about berwick blvd. that sounds made up.
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  Cyclist April 30, 2008 4:39 pm

  JimSweeney wrote I guess i should have said the West Park is probably the longest and widest neighborhood/local boulevard in the city. It’s certainly wider than NW Boulevard which i see as more of a collector street.

  i don’t know about berwick blvd. that sounds made up.

  West Park is very nice. Berwick Blvd is not much of a Blvd. but it deserves consideration in this Blvd. competition Jim. Our glamorous Mayor Coleman live very near Berwick Blvd.
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  cmhcow May 1, 2008 10:52 am

  look at the sween machine go…
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  Zenperson May 1, 2008 1:10 pm

  I know a couple that purchased a home through this program in Franklinton. They got an adorable 3 bedroom home that’s essentially been totally rebuilt on the inside and out… I believe it was around 105K with a low interest rate. :P