Putting a Positive Spin on Foreclosures; The City of Boston Acquires, Resells and Helps Revamp 12 Foreclosed Properties

“Foreclosure” doesn’t have to be a bad word, especially if you are a first-time homebuyer in the Boston area.

The City of Boston, acting in association with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, recently acquired 12 foreclosed-on properties; sold them to first-time homebuyers; and then had the Department of Neighborhood Development’s Boston Home Center provide the new homeowners with loans for renovations. The 12 properties are all located in areas that were hit hardest by bank foreclosures, including Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Roxbury.

On Saturday afternoon, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Director of the DND, Evelyn Friedman, joined the 12 new Boston homebuyers for a housewarming celebration at 22 Rockwell Street in Dorchester. The Dorchester residence, which was previously abandoned, is now the home of husband Reginal Stovell, wife Carla Stovell and their two children.

“In Boston, we are a national leader on foreclosures thanks to our three-pronged approach – prevention, intervention and reclamation,” Mayor Menino recently commented. Back in 1999, the City of Boston began with the prevention part of its three-pronged approach by warning residents about risky mortgages through its Don’t Borrow Trouble campaign. In 2006, the City began intervening with a counseling program, which saved over 450 homes from foreclosure. In 2009, the City hit upon the reclamation prong when it began acquiring foreclosed-on properties.

The 12 properties that the City of Boston recently acquired and resold all required no more than between $50,000 and $65,000 in repairs. The Stovell family in Dorchester was given a $60,000 loan, which they are using for exterior renovations, including new front stairs, new porches, new fencing and painting, as well as interior renovations, including kitchen restoration. The Stovells also contributed more than $15,000 of their own money towards revamping the once abandoned house.

The Stovells and the other 11 new homeowners are the first in the area to purchase homes that the City acquired using funding from HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Boston’s DND received more than $21 million from the program.

See below for a full list of the 12 properties:

• 2 Capen Place – Dorchester – single family
• 5 Dewey Street – Dorchester – single family
• 223 Chelsea Street – East Boston - 3 family -
• 29 Leighton Road – Hyde Park – single family
• 2 Corman Road – Mattapan – single family
• 22 Rockwell Street – Dorchester – single family
• 18 Marden Avenue – Dorchester – condo unit
• 116 Ruskindale Road – Hyde Park – single family
• 53 Havre Street – East Boston – 2 family
• 184 Bennington Street – East Boston – 3 family
• 34 Wayland Street – Dorchester – 3 family
• 1 Marion Place – East Boston – single family

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Posted by erik devaney on Sep 11 2011. Filed under Featured - For home page featured article, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry