Nashville Habitat for Humanity project stirs unease

[anygunanywhere]

i've never known a habitat project that caused a problem  ever. i do hear lots of nimby

Head on down to my area and I will show you one. It is a well known area for drug dealing.

Anygunanywhere

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i've never known a habitat project that caused a problem  ever. i do hear lots of nimby

Head on down to my area and I will show you one. It is a well known area for drug dealing.

Anygunanywhere

wheres that  what project?  habitats not done many so i am curious/skeptical

[MechAg94]

The city donated the land so there is some taxpayer money involved. 

Also, the people complaining are not necessarily rich. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

The city donated the land so there is some taxpayer money involved. 

Also, the people complaining are not necessarily rich. 

unh  unh 
"Habitat ultimately paid $2.2 million to buy 220 acres from Hardaway Construction"

"

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

McCarthy said home sales in the area since May have averaged $105,000, and Habitat's typical home in the nearby Timberwood subdivision appraises for $115,000. Timberwood, where Habitat volunteers will start work on another 14 houses this morning, will have 112 homes once it's built out by mid-2010

[anygunanywhere]

wheres that  what project?  habitats not done many so i am curious/skeptical

It might not qualify as a "project" but Habitat typically builds in areas where many lots are available. There is one near where we live with at least 10 of their houses.

Our nephew (wife's side) had his son taken away by CPS two months ago after a raid on the house. The nephew's step brother was arrested along with three others living in the house. It is a drug haven.

BTW, there are a number of Obama signs in the front yards. I have not seen a McCain/Palin sign yet.

Dopers for Obama!

I find it odd that anyone would be skeptical that there would not be dope problems in a Habitat project. Seems to me it would fit.

Anygunanywhere

[yesitsloaded]

Here in Jackson some of the more thuggy hoods habitat actually had to foreclose on some people. The level of laziness and notwantingtoworkedness involved in getting a Habitat house foreclosed just astounds me.

[ilbob]

I'm going to level a theory that the Habitat developments are going to cause much, much less trouble than government low income housing for one very good reason.

You have to work on your own Habitat home. You get folks with work ethic, people who end up with a little pride in what they've made for themselves.

I am inclined to agree.  I have some issues with Habitat, especially their creative numbers when dealing with the true rate of mortgage defaults by their home buyers. But I still think they do mostly good work.

[Hawkmoon]

I'm going to level a theory that the Habitat developments are going to cause much, much less trouble than government low income housing for one very good reason.

You have to work on your own Habitat home. You get folks with work ethic, people who end up with a little pride in what they've made for themselves.

Having helped build Habitat homes as a volunteer, I will dispute that based on what I saw.

Habitat requires only a small percentage of the overall labor to be provided by the prospective homeowner. And it doesn't have to be skilled labor, in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it doesn't even have to be "labor" in meaningful terms. The homeowner of one house I helped rehab (which was a complete, gut rehab on an inner city house that was probably 75 years old when we started on it) did nothing more than lean on a push broom for a couple of hours every afternoon when we were working, to a chorus of "You go girl" accolades from the Habitat scorekeeper, who dutifully wrote her down as having provided 4 hours of "work" for having occupied space on the work site for part of the afternoon.

[ilbob]

I suspect H4H homes are less likely to have issues than are government housing programs. I suspect that the pool of deserving low income people who will be good stewards of the H4H largess is shrinking and they are getting more problems as they get bigger.

I understand the default rate is much higher than they publicly admit.

[Firethorn]

I suspect H4H homes are less likely to have issues than are government housing programs. I suspect that the pool of deserving low income people who will be good stewards of the H4H largess is shrinking and they are getting more problems as they get bigger.

I agree with you.  When they were small they had much more ability to handpick good candidates - those that were poor through relatively little fault of their own.  Something like having a disabled kid, for example, can cause a familiy that would otherwise be middle class down to 'poor'.

On the other hand - I still maintain that most poor people are that way less due to income than due to spending/money management habits.

And yes, they likely DO have a default rate higher than people in better financial situations.  Just because they've been more or less given a home doesn't mean that they're in better financial condition, and many will mortgage their home in iffy financial deals in an effort to lever themselves up higher, or to cover day to day stuff.  Example:  the family who got that house from the TV show, then opened a mortgage on it to open a construction business that ended up failing when the housing market went bust and they couldn't make the payments.

I understand the reasoning behind doing it - but I also like being paranoid and having equity in my house.

[freakazoid]

It is a drug haven.

Oh noes, drugs.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

What is Habitat's published default rate?  What is their suspected real default rate?

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

It is a drug haven.

Oh noes, drugs.

I've seen a few drug havens/neighborhoods.  I wouldn't want to live in one.  Or near one.  I wouldn't want some outside organization (either government or private) bringing one to me and my hard-earned home.

[MechAg94]

I'm going to level a theory that the Habitat developments are going to cause much, much less trouble than government low income housing for one very good reason.

You have to work on your own Habitat home. You get folks with work ethic, people who end up with a little pride in what they've made for themselves.

Having helped build Habitat homes as a volunteer, I will dispute that based on what I saw.

Habitat requires only a small percentage of the overall labor to be provided by the prospective homeowner. And it doesn't have to be skilled labor, in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it doesn't even have to be "labor" in meaningful terms. The homeowner of one house I helped rehab (which was a complete, gut rehab on an inner city house that was probably 75 years old when we started on it) did nothing more than lean on a push broom for a couple of hours every afternoon when we were working, to a chorus of "You go girl" accolades from the Habitat scorekeeper, who dutifully wrote her down as having provided 4 hours of "work" for having occupied space on the work site for part of the afternoon.

That said, even that little bit of added responsibility is too much for a some of the leeches out there. 

[MechAg94]

The city donated the land so there is some taxpayer money involved. 

Also, the people complaining are not necessarily rich. 

unh  unh 
"Habitat ultimately paid $2.2 million to buy 220 acres from Hardaway Construction"

"

Fair enough.  I saw that the city donated 60 acres.  Looks like HFH bought additional.

[ilbob]

What is Habitat's published default rate?  What is their suspected real default rate?

My BIL works for them. They claim a very low default rate, but he says in reality it is much higher since they generally won't do anything about a mortgage that is not being paid, sometimes for years. I have never been able to find any reliable numbers on this. The problem is that the local branches are independent. Those that publish numbers usually claim 2 or 3% default rates, which is pretty good.

Some local affiliates don't publish default numbers at all, and at least one report I have seen somewhere suggested some affiliates may have as high as a 20% default rate.

They all want the numbers to look good to keep the donations coming in. I suspect some of the local affiliates are much more realistic about who they let in than others are, and many do just about anything to avoid foreclosure.