Could We Use Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) In NE Ohio?

As a Realtor®, it's easy to be made aware of all the newly planned or just being built housing developments in our area. One of the frustrating aspects of all that has been the price points. $300k seems to be the standard for new town homes for example. There is one architecturally fabulous exception being built in Tremont (Starkweather Place...contact me if you are interested). For the most part we seem to have new housing going up that no one can afford -- or barely afford as long as there is tax abatement.

When I lived in Maryland I was impressed with Montgomery County's Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program. For any new development in Montgomery County the developers of that project were required to set aside about 12% of the units as moderately priced homes. They allow people who meet certain residency requirements to enter a lottery and get on a list to own one of these lower priced units. This was a model program started in the 1970s. Of course, their home price points went through the roof so their moderately priced homes now would be way above what most of us could afford. But I really think it's an idea that our Planning Commission could explore.

The Center for Housing Policy issued a report called New Century Housing (it's in pdf format and 54 pages but a quality explanation of the idea) This next report was issued by the League of Women Voters in Montgomery County and it gives a further explanation and history of MPDUs there. This report explained that you were required to have MPDUs if your development was 35 units or larger. I did not remember that part. Anyway, curious to know what others think about this idea.

When I first moved out of Cleveland in the early '70s to attend college and make my way in the world, Ohio City was just being 'pioneered,' if I can call it that. I knew people who knew people and they were involved in starting the Call and Post, and trying to revitalize the area. But revitalize it in an inclusionary way. Manager Mark (my manager) has lived in Ohio City for years and years, and I was fascinated with his recounting of the mission and passion of Ohio City residents who did not just want 'rich' people in the neighborhood, but original residents as well.

When I look at some of the development occurring elsewhere, I still see 300k price points. And in fact, Ohio City sports quite a few new town home and condo complexes in that price range -- and higher. But there are still homes to be bought under $200k or less. In fact we are under contract (a client and I) on a home closer to 120k that exemplifies all the character of Ohio City architecture.

A lot of cities are experiencing a housing crisis because people can't afford to downsize when they need to, or even buy their first homes. I think our area could use an MPDU or AHU (Affordable Housing Unit) plan because some of us just are not interested, even if we can afford it, in putting all of our available monies into homes that cost over 300k. I guess I will get off my soapbox for now lol. I am slightly optimistic that the downtown development plans seem to be going in the direction of mixed use development and I am hoping that idea will take off as well. Here is the National Association of Home Builders take on Mixed Use. Here is the Wikipedia explanation of it. Do you like either of these ideas? Peace Out - 3C

Cuyahoga County Homes For Sale: Can You Say "Buyer's Market?'

To say there are many homes on the market in each community is putting it mildly. Here, by zip code, is a summary of some Cuyahoga County communities and the number of homes available.

Cleveland's Near West Side:

44102 320 Single Family Homes For Sale 48 Condos or Town Homes For Sale

44111 359 Single Family Homes For Sale No Condos For Sale

44113 102 Single Family Homes For Sale 84 Condos or Town Homes For Sale

44135 319 Single Family Homes For Sale 6 Condos or Town Homes For Sale

Shaker Heights:

44122 180 Single Family Homes For Sale 48 Town Homes or Condos

Lakewood:

44107 334 Single Family Homes For Sale 135 Condos or Town Homes

Rocky River:

44116 137 Single Family Homes For Sale 114 Condos or Town Homes


Peace Out - 3C

Thinking of Selling Your Home? You May Need a Point of Sale Inspection

Maybe a new job or a need for a bigger (or smaller) home has you thinking about putting your home up for sale. For some of our communities, a Point of Sale inspection is required. This means, before the Title to your home can transfer to that new buyer, you will need a city inspector to okay the sale and sign off that no repairs are needed. Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and Euclid are all areas requiring a Point of Sale. (The Cleveland Heights link is for their general contact numbers; they did not have 'point of sale' info' readily available on the web. But the Euclid and Shaker links take you to some detailed info about point of sales in those communities).

Lakewood has a point of sale inspection on non-owner occupied (rental) properties. One reason to do a point of sale inspection before you list your home? Buyers can feel as comfortable as you can that there won't be any surprises in store for them, or additional expenses, if they exist, will all be described in the inspection report. You can't avoid it so instead of possible unpleasant surprises, an inspection can give you, as a seller, peace of mind. Lakewood also has a fantastic First Time Home Buyer program but the City inspection will be detailed so again, why not get it done ahead of time so you won't have surprises at contract time.

With a lot of homes on the market you can give yourself a competitive advantage by having the inspections completed before the first potential buyer walks in your door. Most of our communities have wonderful old housing stock and these inspections are ways to keep each home in tip top shape, adding value to living in these communities (although there are those who disagree...there was a very thoughtful post by my friend, a Realtor ® in Minneapolis). Regardless of how you feel about them, they exist so we may as well be prepared. What's that phrase: forewarned is forearmed? Hmm, I hope that is correct lol.

The other thing an inspection can do is help you decide when to put your home up for sale. You might decide to get a few things repaired this year and then sell next year, as long as you have the luxury to do so. Peace Out - 3C

Foreclosures: More Info on Possible Targets by Predatory Lending

The month of February had some poignant moments for me as a Realtor®. Early that month I was called by an out of town lender who had a website; he was trying to get a local contact to help a Cleveland resident save their home with a short sale (sell a home in order to avoid foreclosure, but at less than market value).

Unfortunately, the market value of this person's home was much less than they paid for it. You guessed it: predatory lending. And some complicit appraiser who helped the predatory lender sign off on the mortgage process. Before I found out I could not help this person, he had a friend call me. Then another person called. Before I knew it, over eleven people had sought me out to help them. One or two may have been able to just make enough money through a sale so that they could avoid foreclosure. But most of the homes were way over market value and there was no way to sell it and recoup....even if they sold the home themselves. It was the saddest month I have had in my professional career so far.

Today, on the News Net Five website, there was a recap of a law school Fair Housing seminar held at CSU. They heard from Housing Advocates and government leaders. Their conclusion is that three mortgage companies targeted minorities and that these lenders may have contributed to as much as 35 percent of the 15,000 foreclosures in our area last year. It makes me angry. This is a link to local Fair Housing groups. If you think you need them, please call them.

Also, don't forget, no matter where you live in NE Ohio, if you think you are in danger of losing your house if you don't take action...take action! Bellaire Puritas Development Corporation has their staff and people from organizations who can help direct you, hopefully help you find the light at the end of the tunnel. Their Foreclosure Workshop is Thursday.

FREE ANSWERS AND ASSISTANCE
on Thursday, April 26th
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm
at 14703 Puritas Avenue(use side entrance behind US Bank)

Peace Out - 3C

Student Newspaper Article Sparks Free Speech Debate and Pending Teacher Suspension

I'll let you judge for yourself. You can read this article on The First Amendment Center's website. It seems a student wrote an editorial in her Indiana high school newspaper asking everyone to accept those 'who are different.'

The newspaper advisor/teacher is in danger of losing her job...and a hearing is scheduled on May 1st. The site is also a very good source of information on other First Amendment Rights issues, no matter which side of the fence your opinion falls. If you read it, oddly, Indiana has some other school/paper/free speech issues.

The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Of course this issue deals with students - most of whom are not yet 18 years of age. Somehow a student's editorial asking us to all be tolerant of each other's differences does not seem like something that needs to be censored.

Here is the CNN on line article about it. A deeper discussion from an Indiana reporter with the Decatur Democrat. The teacher is interviewed a bit in this article and she says she would make the same decision again. What do you think? Peace Out - 3C

Ohio SB 117 - Not really in our best interest

It's been a busy week and I am behind on this past week's news and events. First up was a fabulous 'Meet The Bloggers' round table discussion which brought together public officials, lawyers, citizens and bloggers to discuss Ohio's SB 117. It is well worth your time to listen to the podcast which you can find here. It will be on our next ballot for your vote.

A fellow Ohioan and blogger 'Maureen' said it right when she commented on my We Want Choice blog -- we've been had. When 'Earn and Learn' lobbied us to allow slots at racetracks, you could go to their website and see who the supporters were, and included were racetrack owners. Then we could all make informed decisions, based on the issues, regarding whether we wanted slots in Ohio. The We Want Choice website does not convey this information...doesn't tell us who is behind it. Turns out, AT&T and Verizon are behind it. Why not come out in the open guys?

Anyway, the issue regarding SB117 is that it would take away the cable franchising responsibilities from our individual communities and turn it over to the State of Ohio. How does giving up our ability as a community to negotiate who will be our cable providers give us more choice? It probably doesn't!

Matt Zone (Cleveland's Ward 17) is on the public utilities committee. He was at the round table discussion. He stated that Cleveland would wind up with one cable access channel instead of the seven we have now. There is a wealth of information on those access channels. Hmm. From seven to one....more choice or less? Councilman Zone also estimated a quarter of a million dollar loss in revenue each year from Cable revenues...and that was based solely on Time Warner as our city's cable provider.

Another worthy read was pointed out in my last blog on SB117 by George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily. Bill Callahan wrote a good post discussing the issue and you can read that here.

Choice and competition is, I bet, what we all want from cable service. The City of Mentor just negotiated some competition. That was community, not State, controlled. You can hear about it on the podcast. Check it out. Peace Out - 3C

Rock Hall Has Money For Redesign But Not For Concerts?

Is Rock and Roll about music or buildings? I love the design of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, don't get me wrong. But it's Spring and they announced they don't have money to host the annual Festival this year. But they want to spend money to redesign the interior of the Museum? Crain's Cleveland's had this news story this morning. It's supposed to (the redesign) help improve traffic flow inside the building. I would imagine losing visitors by not hosting concerts could also help traffic flow.

I've been to exhibit opening nights when a few thousand people are there; I stopped by for a while during one of the free Staind concerts a few years back. Lot's of people, not feeling overwhelmingly crowded inside. What am I missing here? Sigh. Peace Out - 3C