Oakland County officials are trying to help solve the foreclosure crisis and its ripple effects by getting people to buy into it.
The county is sponsoring a new homeownership program that will hold a workshop Saturday morning in Waterford. The idea is to get low- to moderate-income families to buy some of the vacant, foreclosed homes in the county. The program hopes to help mitigate housing and blight problems while preserving local tax base.
Oakland County officials see the low prices created by the crisis as an opportunity to create new homeowners from people who weren't able to afford their own place in a more successful economy.
The county plans to make this possible with no-interest loans for down payment assistance, closing costs, home improvements or other financing for home-buyers who pre-qualify for a fixed-rate mortgage. The loan can represent at least 51 percent of the purchase price while the county will finance up to the remaining 49 percent of the purchase and rehabilitation costs up to $100,000 as long as home-buyer puts down at least $2,000.
The money to make this possible is coming from the foreclosure money provided by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program late last year. Other cities have focused this money on things like demolition while Oakland County is focusing on preserving its local building stock, a.k.a. tax base.
The workshop will be held at 9 a.m. in the Oakland County Executive Office Building Conference Center, 2100 Pontiac Lake Rd., just west of Telegraph Road. Registration is not required. For information, click here or call 248-858-1529.
Source: Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke
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