Low-Income Housing Failure and Success

In 2001, during the reconstruction of a nearby arterial road, this house and two other houses were moved to the neighborhood and placed on new foundations. Each house was sold to a low-income family. The idea was to increase the number of owner-occupied dwellings in the neighborhood.

Within ten years, all three families had lost their homes to foreclosure, even though two of the houses were multi-units, and the additional rental income would have covered the owners' mortgages.  

Families who fall behind on their mortgage payments rarely put money into the expensive maintenance required to keep a modern home habitable.

All three of the houses had major problems and needed extensive renovation, even though they had been upgraded when moved to the neighborhood. 

This multi-family home was sold to a low-income family in 2001 for $80,000, foreclosed, and sold by the bank in 2012 for $23,000. The house needed extensive renovation by the new owners: electrical, plumbing, roof, furnace, flooring. 

The deck of the porch roof was in good shape, but the shingles had deteriorated. Here the old shingles and underlayment are being torn off one section at a time. The blue tarp was used to cover it up when rain was expected.

Below are photos of the interior after remodeling.