Dane Checolinski’s Post

The housing crisis real. With prices continuing to increase at the same time their is less inventory on the market, 1st time buyers are facing an uphill battle to be in the game. Solutions need to come from public/private collaborations. Employers, like the ones listed from Sheboygan County, need to be engaged. Likewise, the public sector needs to find creative ways to incentivize development and bring deals to their community. Well done Sheboygan County.

I'm sorry. This is irresponsible for the Seattle Times to publish this piece. Claiming that tenants who can pay rent just don't because of a temporary reprieve from evictions is ridiculous. What happens on March 1st? Do those tenants pay a lump sum & attach a letter saying "just kidding?" In reality, tenants can't pay rent for a variety of reasons. When I personally studied and translated the French trêve hivernale, which has been on the books since 1945 and is the basis for Seattle's winter moratorium, we also combed through several years of eviction data. It turns out that the top ten filers of eviction in Seattle are split between big corporate landlords and large nonprofit affordable housing providers. All tenants, regardless of income are teetering on the edge of homelessness. The trêve hivernale has not crashed the public, nonprofit, or market rental housing market and if an actual study were performed, I could almost guarantee that Seattle's moratorium has minimal impact on landlords, with maximum impact on keeping people from being tossed on the street in freezing temperatures. TLDR, tenants are already in a precarious situation and won't risk having an eviction on their record for life just so they can (I guess) pay rent late. https://lnkd.in/gb9QC8vp.seattletimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fseattles-winter-eviction-moratorium-is-endangering-affordable-housing%2F&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl1%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4

👻 What's scarier than housing prices? With the accepted measure for "Affordable" = housing cost not more than 30% of your income, most places -- suburban, rural, and urban -- are grappling with how to make this possible for more residents. 🍬 The Duke Homebuyer's Club aims to make first-time home ownership for more of Duke University and Health employees a reality. 🍭 With news that two of the program's participants recently purchased their first homes, it seems like a good time to share an update on how we work with partners to bring together federal, local and private sources of #financial knowledge and assistance together via this nine-month-long program. 🪴 Tackling tough issues takes substantial #collaboration and sustained effort -- exactly the type of #CommunityEngagement we try to take on. https://lnkd.in/eithu7Vf #affordablehousing #bestplacestowork #communitydevelopment Eliza Mathew Adam Klein Mayme Webb-Bledsoe Autrice Campbell Long Reinvestment Partners CEF: Community Empowerment Fund

Great article continuing to highlight the need for affordable housing!

Looking for a fresh perspective on the housing crisis? Tune in to this episode of All Things Considered, where host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Alex Horowitz from the The Pew Charitable Trusts Charitable Trusts. Alex leads an exciting portfolio of work to help policymakers reimagine their approach to housing by illuminating how regulations and statutes drive the housing shortage and rising costs. One insight in the interview jumped out at me: "Minneapolis updated their zoning to make it much easier to build apartments near commerce and near transit, in part by eliminating parking minimums and also by making permitting easy. And it worked. They're producing housing at triple the rate of the U.S. and the rest of Minnesota, and that has meant that they've kept their rents flat for about seven years." Could that work to open up the housing market and provide affordable options where you live? To learn more go to https://lnkd.in/e-9hrAxC

***This*** doesn't happen by accident: https://lnkd.in/gnipaDsX Actions by citizens in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, and other Greater Portland communities have blocked projects that would add to the supply of homes in Southern Maine, which is absolutely necessary to make homes accessible to regular people. - https://lnkd.in/gdbEUZaj - https://lnkd.in/gypMgydz - https://lnkd.in/gpHw_7WZ This ongoing obstructionism means that Greater Portland will only be open to wealthy people relocating from expensive metro areas, not to those who have worked and contributed to this region for generations, but work in jobs like law enforcement, teaching, community non-profit organizations, bartending, food services, arts organizations, and countless other professions that make the region a dynamic and desirable place to visit and live. Blocking new home construction is an active choice to favor the investment banker from Brooklyn over the sternman from Portland.

"St. Ambrose offers a broad slate of services, including an in-house real estate brokerage, financial counseling, legal help and access to down payment assistance. In a city scarred by the legacy of redlining, blockbusting, and other predatory and racist real estate practices, the non-profit’s program has strengthened vulnerable neighborhoods throughout Baltimore and, according to new data, has also helped hundreds of families to build generational wealth. As policy makers consider how to address Baltimore’s declining population and vacant housing surplus, St. Ambrose’s targeted and comprehensive housing program can also serve as a model for revitalizing city neighborhoods and increasing homeownership throughout the city." Homeownership is a primary way to build family wealth and pass it down to future generations. Register TODAY for one of St. Ambrose’s FREE Homebuying Workshops! If you are buying a home for the first time, or just want some advice on how to prepare for homeownership, and connect to resources that make home ownership possible, you should consider meeting with a HUD certified housing counselor. email [email protected].

📣 This is not a party political broadcast 📣 Housing policy is largely unrelated to homelessness or tackling it and the large national homelessness charities championing house-building are insufficiently ambitious. Much of the focus on building homes or Stamp Duty will do little to nothing to stem the tide of homelessness. I’m delighted for those that will get on the housing ladder but they’re unlikely to be the homeless or most at risk. Homelessness, if you look at the root causes, is complex and intractable and at no time in history have we eradicated it. So whilst measures that ‘may’ long term reduce the increases in homelessness, they do little to tackle the current homelessness crisis or the one that will continue after this election. Because homelessness is complex and I see little from any party that seeks to invest in the causes - in social care (including Children’s Services), mental health services, our crumbling criminal justice edifice, local housing authorities and homelessness departments, prevention legislation that has teeth and the cost of housing from both ends - jobs that pay and affordable rents. Nuance and prevention (which takes time), won’t make headlines in a six week campaign and I get that - it’s complex. But we need to see more from parties of all colours, and hold our prospective MPs to account if we’re to see homelessness being tackled. https://lnkd.in/emEySGPQ #generalelection24 #safeandsecurehome

Some Options news and some personal news. In December, Options for Homes and our funding partner Home Ownership Alternatives (HOA) agreed to unite the two organizations. This had been in the works for some time and will hopefully streamline operations for two organizations effectively delivering on the same mission.     As part of this change and after a lot of reflection, I decided this is the time to explore new opportunities and I will be stepping down as CEO. I believe Options is ready for an evolution and this is the logical next step for these organizations.    In my nine years at Options my team and I have done some great work. During my time here we have built almost 900 homes and created a pipeline of 2500 more. This is an impressive output, but our story is not told in the number of units delivered alone. Not only have we created housing opportunities for people, but as our recent Impact Study found, we’ve done it in a way that has supported people, make an impact on the rental market, and has created opportunities for people who typically haven’t been served in the housing market.   Allow me to share a few highlights from that report because I think it really speaks to how unique Options is and how mission-driven we are. The Impact Study revealed that nearly 90% of purchasers felt supported during their purchaser journey. (A huge hat tip to Catherine Thompson, Mika Lang, Karen Hepburn Sandra Hernandez). More than 70% of Options’ households moved from rental units, resulting in much needed turnover in the rental market. And 56% of OFH purchasers identify as BIPOC, verifying what we had always thought ­– that we were serving communities that did not typically have high rates of home ownership.    I couldn’t be prouder of our legacy and my team, but alas, it’s time to move on! I am leaving my role effective January 5th. I admit to looking forward to some time off ahead of a next adventure. Watch this space! https://lnkd.in/gfvuAtyr Special thanks to Jeff Evenson and Rae Ann Fera for their leadership on the Impact Study.

A study in 2016 showed that Charlotte had a housing deficit of 30,000 units, with a majority of that need being for low and moderate income families. Even in the most recent study for the state, there is more than 45K units deficit in affordable housing and 24K of that is in Charlotte alone. While some headway has been made it is still a severe problem. Critical housing solutions require innovative solutions and collaboration. For anyone needing inspiration of how to work with local government, developers, faith based organizations and nonprofits, I encourage you to watch the short video below. In a nut shell, St. Paul Baptist Church donated a portion of its land for affordable housing development. The city and Bank of America assisted the developer with funding and tax credits. Further the city utilized funding from its Housing Trust Fund using monies from voter approved housing bonds. Together this group was able to provide 112 units of affordable housing. As housing becomes more and more unaffordable, insurance rates are escalating and gentrification seems to push forward, we must all play a part in finding solutions to ensure that at a minimum, adequate housing solutions are provided to everyone to afford.