On August 26, 2015, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan joined representatives from Quicken Loans, The Home Depot and members of the community to announce the “Rehabbed and Ready” program – a public-private campaign to renovate homes, increase occupancy and bring pricing stability to Detroit’s neighborhoods.
Through the sale of the renovated homes, which will be conducted on the Detroit Land Bank’s auction website (BuildingDetroit.org), the program will provide the necessary recent home sale comparisons appraisers need to conduct proper home valuations that are essential to a healthy, thriving housing market.
“The Rehabbed and Ready program will make home ownership in Detroit accessible to more people by giving them the opportunity to purchase a Land Bank home that’s move-in ready,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “But more than renovating 65 homes, this initiative will provide opportunity to thousands of homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood, as it will allow more accurate appraised values which will generate home financing in the area.”
Through Rehabbed and Ready, the Detroit Land Bank will provide vacant homes in need of repair. Quicken Loans will provide a $5 million grant/funding, as well as offer financing for the properties to qualified buyers, while The Home Depot, with help of local contractors, is renovating the homes.
The $5 million grant/funding from Quicken Loans will be used, in part, to finance the renovations made to each of the homes. Part of the funding will be used as a backstop to replenish the renovation fund in the event a home sells for less than the construction costs. In addition, funds have been allocated to eliminate blight in the neighborhoods near the Rehabbed and Ready homes.
“The neighborhoods of Detroit are already starting to turn around. Blighted homes are being removed at a record pace. Other homes are being renovated and we have even seen residential new construction in neighborhoods get underway for the first time in decades,” said Dan Gilbert, Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans. “The Rehabbed and Ready program adds another critical component to neighborhood revival as it addresses the critical issue of rebuilding the market so appraisal values can be rationalized to allow financing to come back to the housing eco-system in Detroit.”
The Rehabbed and Ready program is beginning in four west side Detroit neighborhoods: Bagley, Crary/St. Mary’s, College Park, and Evergreen/Outer Drive. The areas were selected because the neighborhoods featured well-maintained homes, but needed a helping hand to increase home price stability in the area.
Rehabbed & Ready is the latest tool in the successful blight elimination efforts that the City of Detroit has undertaken to revitalize the neighborhoods.
Rehabbed and Ready at a Glance:
- Homes will be auctioned to the highest bidder, with minimum bids set at a percentage of the homes’ rehabilitation investment.
- Each home will be auctioned at www.buildingdetroit.org, to owner-occupants. Investors cannot purchase these homes.
- Open houses will be held the weekend before the homes are auctioned.
[Photo credit: Kevin Bauman]