Acquiring city-owned properties to rehab?

Years of back taxes owed. Clouded titles. Rehab budgets which oftentimes exceed market values of city-owned homes…even once the homes are fully-rehabbed. Few good “comps” for appraisals. Can owner-occupants get a home loan if they buy one of these homes for themselves? Small loan amounts. And oftentimes mortgage lenders don’t like those small loan amounts. Complexities associated with the FHA 203(k) loan. And so on, and so on, and so on… 

Challenges, and lots of them. Challenges, yet one objective municipalities have is to transition these now non-performing properties into neighborhood assets. Because while non-performing properties do have these very real challenges, with high numbers of “single challenges” – i.e.: distressed, vacant homes – situated within neighborhoods, a municipality will have a larger scale collective challenge on their hands as well. A neighborhood challenge, so to speak. A social challenge. And that’s the real problem…