HousingLink Blog

• Rental Apartment Vacancy Rates Are Quite High.

  2/16/2010 10:42:38 AM

  According to the Star Tribune, GVA Marquette Advisors calculated a 7.3% vacancy rate for rental housing for the end of 2009. There are several factors that could be influencing this high vacancy rate: The federal first-time home buyers credit, decreased home prices and the poor economy resulting in people "doubling up" or moving back in with parents. Unfortunately, as we look at the data, we don't anticipate a drastic improvement in the vacancy rate in 2010.
  
  So if you are a landlord, what can you do?
  

  • If your current tenants want to move out when their lease is up, attempt to renegotiate a cheaper rent with them. It can cost $500+ to turn an apartment over, not including lost rent due a unit sitting empty. It's cheaper to keep an existing tenant than it is to find a new one.
  • Offer special deals to new tenants such as free parking spots or a free months rent.
  • Create an incentive program that gives discounts to tenants who refer a friend to rent from you.
  • Check around to find out what other similar apartments are going for, if your unit is too high, it will not get rented.
  • Be extremely responsive when maintenance issues arise. Tenants really appreciate a landlord who fixes things quickly and are sometimes willing to stay in a unit if the landlord is good.
  • Find simple ways to show you care about your tenants -- write a hand written note thanking them for being a great tenant, send them a card or small gift on their birthday, have a pizza party for your residents, say good things about them on your Twitter or Facebook pages, give out free balloons to kids or create a message board where people can post times they've seen their neighbors doing something good.
  • Remember: Creativity doesn't have to cost a lot of money, but it does take a little bit of effort.
  • Finally, if you do have a vacancy, remember to list it for FREE with HousingLink!!!!

  These are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. What are you doing to help keep vacancies low? Let us know.
  
  

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• Foreclosure Prevention Workshop For Unemployed

  2/12/2010 9:37:09 AM

  Our friends over at The Minnesota Home Ownership Center, the Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin County and the Minnesota WorkForce Centers are working together to offer free workshops for homeowners who are worried about making upcoming mortgage payments, are already facing foreclosure or for anyone interested in learning more about the foreclosure process in Minnesota.
  
  The workshop will provide information on what happens during foreclosures, homeowners’ rights, and solutions for long-term housing needs. Participants will be able to ask questions and get free advice – confidentially - from local, non-profit foreclosure counselors.
  
  The first workshop in the series will be held on Thursday, February 18th at the Hennepin South WorkForce Center (Bloomington) from 10:30am to 12:00noon.
  
  For a map to the Hennepin South WorkForce Center, click here.
  
  For a press release of the upcoming workshop, click here.
  
  For a flyer you can freely distribute to help promote the workshop, click here.
  
  

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  Foreclosure MN Home Ownership Center Training

• How Do You Calculate Home Foreclosures?

  2/11/2010 11:47:22 AM

  An important question is being discussed in the media lately: "When you say a home is in foreclosure, what does that mean?" Minnesota Public Radio has been exploring this question. MPR recently reported that there seems to be a discrepancy between the foreclosure data that RealtyTrac produces and reports that are released by HousingLink and the MN Home Ownership Center.

  RealtyTrac has stated that foreclosures in Minnesota were up nearly 50% in 2009 while HousingLink and the MN Home Ownership Center claim that foreclosures took a slight decline in 2009, rather than a huge increase.

  Where's the difference?

  The discrepancies comes down to what you actually count as a "foreclosure". At HousingLink, we believe the most accurate way to calculate foreclosures is to look at sheriff's sales--the point at which a homeowner loses their home to the lender or third party real estate organization. RealtyTrac tally's up all the properties that are anywhere in the foreclosure process--from the first pre-foreclosure notice a homeowner receives to the actual sheriff's sale. Given that there are numerous ways for people to avoid a sheriff's sale along the path to foreclosure, we feel that calculating actual sheriff's sales give the most accurate picture of homes that have been foreclosed on. RealtyTrac feels otherwise.
  
  This debate will continue into the future. What do you think? Which method of calculating foreclosures seems to make the most sense to you?

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  Foreclosure MN Home Ownership Center RealtyTrac MPR

• St. Louis Park Public Housing Waiting List Is Open

  2/10/2010 9:48:59 AM

  Waiting list for 1 bedroom is open February 10th – February 11th.
  Applications may be obtained ONLY by calling 952-924-2650 between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm on Feb 10th and Feb. 11th. Completed applications must be returned or postmarked no later than Friday February 26th, 2010. Applicants must meet income and occupancy eligibility requirements. A lottery will be conducted of all eligible applications for 500 positions on the waiting list. Only the top 500 applications will be placed on the waiting list.
  
  Public Housing Income and Occupancy Eligibility
  A maximum of two persons are allowed in a one bedroom.
  Family Size                Maximum Annual Income
       1                                        $44,800
       2                                        $51,200
  

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• CSH Releases Federal Budget Summary

  2/9/2010 4:25:43 PM

  Are you curious about what President Obama is proposing in terms of funding for supportive housing? As a member of the Ramsey County Housing Crisis Response team, funding for supportive housing programs is an important issue to us. Check out this summary from our friends over at the Corporation for Supportive Housing. It details what's in the proposed budget and lists how CSH feels about the various budgetary items.
  

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• Our Office Building Was Nominated For An Award Of Excellence

  2/8/2010 12:36:42 PM

  As you probably know by now, HousingLink moved to a new office building in September. Our new office space is pretty nice and we've settled in quite nicely. We were happy to learn that our buildings developer (and our friends from down the hall) Catalyst Community Partners/The Ackerberg Group, got nominated for an Award of Excellence from the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAOIP) for the work they did rehabilitating the 1200 West Broadway space. Great job on a great office building! If you are in the area, drop by and see our new space.
  

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• Affordable Housing Vacancy Rates Declining, While High Rent Vacancies Are Up.

  2/5/2010 11:13:59 AM

  We all know the economy is in rough shape. Both lower income renters and higher rent landlords are feeling the effects of the difficult economy. Recently HUD reported that, nationwide, vacancy rates are extremely high, but vacancies in assisted rental housing are much lower than the national average. Unfortunately, as the economy continues to remain stagnant, fewer apartments are affordable to low income renters, according to HUD's latest report.
  
  National rental vacancy rates rose above 10.5% in 2009’s second quarter. However, vacancies in assisted rental housing were much lower. This highlights that the demand for affordable housing is still quite high. Project-based Section 8 vacancies were below 5%. Public housing vacancies fell to 9.5%. In Minnesota, Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects had vacancy rates of around 4%. Additionally, the report notes evidence of households moving in together to save on housing expenses. Nearly 12% of households that moved in 2009 did so to join another household. This is up from less than 10% in 2005. This “doubling up” is likely one cause of the declining market demand for higher rent apartments.
  
  It's been difficult for property managers to fill vacancies in apartments that have high rent, and this trend seems to be continuing into 2010. We will keep doing our best to help people find a quality, affordable place to live...even when vacancy rates are quite low for affordable rentals.

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• Protecting Tenants During A Foreclosure.

  2/4/2010 11:03:01 AM

  Did you know that on May 20^th, 2009 the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act” was signed into law? Minnesota’s Rep. Keith Ellison helped pass this legislation. The bill requires landlords who are being foreclosed upon to give their tenants 90 days notice before they must move. It also holds the new purchaser of the property at the sheriff’s sale (either the lender or a private party buyer) to the prior terms of the lease.
  
  The provisions of this law are "self-executing", so no federal agency (such as HUD) is responsible for making them work.  It is up to advocates to make sure that tenants, landlords, public housing authorities, courts, the legal community, and others involved in the foreclosure process are aware of these new rights for tenants.
  
  So, if you are landlord who’s about to lose your property to foreclosure or a tenant living in a building that’s about to be foreclosed on, you need to be aware of this law. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has an excellent Foreclosure Toolkit on their website.
  

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• Foreclosures In MN Seen From Different Perspectives

  2/2/2010 9:42:44 AM

  Last week, Minnesota Public Radio reported a story noting that foreclosure figures for MN, as reported by RealtyTrac, don't seem to be consistent with foreclosure numbers HousingLink collects every year as part of the Foreclosure in MN reporting series. According to RealtyTrac, foreclosures were up nearly 60% from 2008, while as of Q3, HousingLink was reporting a 13% drop in foreclosures versus the previous year. Why the difference? Well, RealtyTrac gathers data from various points along the timeline – from notices of default when a homeowner is initially delinquent on the mortgage to documents indicating “real estate owned” (REO), when a lender has taken possession of a property. With this aggregation of multiple stages in the foreclosure process, the number more accurately reflects “mortgages in the process of foreclosure,” whereas the HousingLink number reflects scenarios in which a homeowner has exhausted or not availed themselves of other options, some six months after an initial missed payment, and finally lost their property at a county sheriff’s sale auction. HousingLink contacts the county sheriff offices, directly, in order to gather a complete inventory. RealtyTrac’s data comes primarily from lender filings, and is weighted more heavily toward more populous counties. Their “loans in REO status” is probably most similar to the data we collect, but it is not a perfect comparison. We should note that there are often options available to homeowners who are in this “process of foreclosure,” and looking for help. We recommend contacting the counselors at the MN Home Ownership Center for more information.

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  Foreclosure RealtyTrac MPR

• Free Legal Help For North Minneapolis Residents

  1/28/2010 3:10:14 PM

  Beginning on Wednesday, January 13^th, Catalyst Community Partners (our friends from down the hall) and the law firm of Gray, Plant, Mooty began a legal clinic in our 1200 West Broadway building. Initially, the clinic will be open the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of each month from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. These legal services are intended for low income North Minneapolis residents and will give them the opportunity to meet face-to-face with an attorney for a free 15-20 minute consultation. At the clinic the attorneys will answer questions and/or refer clients to other places for help. The options presented to those who attend will be determined by the specifics of their legal issues. Clients will be screened for financial eligibility and, if eligible, the consultation will be provided without charge. Some of the types of cases which clinic attorneys may assist with include: debt/bankruptcy law, civil law, consumer law, and housing law. Clients will be seen on a first-come-first-serve basis. Planning is in the works to make this a regular service for the North Minneapolis community. Additional information will be publicized when it becomes available.
  
  If you have any additional questions related to the clinic’s operation in 1200 West Broadway, give Mike McCloskey a call at 612.877.4006.
  

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  Renter Legal

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