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NCST’s work increases access to homeownership, promotes resilient neighborhoods, and advances racial equity by advocating for policy change.
Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. (ANDP) purchased this Covington, Georgia property through the NSI First Look program. ANDP rehabbed and sold the home to a veteran of the U.S. Marines. Tony was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1976. He served on the USS Independence, and was stationed in Norfolk, VA. He and his wife purchased this home and received $5,000 in homebuyer assistance through ANDP’s Veterans Program.
When this abandoned home was acquired, it had a deteriorating interior with outdated fixtures and appliances, and a yard that was unkempt. Homeowners with negative equity in this zip code are found at nearly twice the national average – 16 percent in this zip code as compared to the national average of nine percent. This negative equity results in homeowners trapped in their homes – unable to sell, statistically not able to keep up with major repairs, and often behind on property taxes. They also lack home equity, and are not able to take out equity lines of credit to start small businesses, send children to college, or make major renovations to their homes.
ANDP conducted a recent study for DeKalb County, Georgia, and data revealed that for every dollar spent on rehab investments, property values of surrounding properties increased by near $16. They invested more than $21,000 in this home including exterior pressure washing and painting, upgrading the landscape, replacing exterior lighting, applying fresh interior paint throughout, updating the bathrooms with new vanities, sinks, lighting and plumbing fixtures, installing new flooring and carpet throughout, and renovating the kitchen with new countertops and a new appliance package.
Focusing on a broad swath of neighborhoods in the Atlanta MSA, particularly those in the less-affluent, still recovering areas in the South Metro, ANDP purchases and rehabs homes which often attracts investments of other market players that then aids in lifting underwater homeowners. ANDP has found by partnering with NCST and utilizing the NSI First Look program, they are able to acquire and rehab homes, and get them reoccupied quickly to stabilize neighborhood values.
NCST’s work increases access to homeownership, promotes resilient neighborhoods, and advances racial equity by advocating for policy change.