An innovative and influential group you’ve never heard of (unless you are in housing)

So, over the last two weeks I have been playing catch up with my reading. Ever since I left behind my beloved (in hindsight) PATH and Subway commute in NY/NJ and traded it in for a 30 mile one-way 40 minute trip in the car, I have been slipping.  One of things I have been missing out on is reading my favorite business rag–Fast Company, which describes itself as a place ”Where People and Ideas Meet”.

As I was skimming over the covers of the issues from the last four months, lo and behold, what did I find but one of my favorite actors (and secret crush though he’s a bit on the short side for me) Ed Norton and reference to his “$9 billion dollar housing project”. * Being as keenly in tune with housing as I am (or purport to be) I knew the statement could only be about Enterprise Community Partners (Eprise)–his family’s business.  (You see ’ole Ed is the grandson of Enterprise’s founders the late Jim Rouse and is dynamic and wonderful and very much living wife Patty,)

So, as you have probably guessed, I put the article about the fastest growing dating service in another issue aside to read the article. I have to tell you, seeing all the things Eprise does to “git ‘er done” when it comes to community revitalization–and housing specifically is astounding.  And since I am such a nice person, I thought I’d break some of the coolest stuff down for you and include some nifty links that will keep you occupied for hours.

It May Not be Easy Being Green–but they sure try!

With the first nation-wide green criteria for building residential units, Eprise was ahead of the curve. Green Communities not only helps developers figure out how to build green but also encourages it by providing small grants as well.

Through the Solar Neighbors Program with BP, famous folk and others who are interested have installed solar power systems on their homes and for each installed system BP donates a system to a low or moderate income homeowner.

And of course no Green outreach is complete without a Carbon Footprint Counter (as you would guess, mine is not small–I wish I could get someone I know to encourage telecommuting–but that’s for another day).

And if  you want more,  Enterprise purports that its National Conference earlier this fall was carbon neutral. (though I am quite unsure of how that is possible.)

Holding the Hill’s Feet to the Fire

None of the Green Communities stuff, or the various financial tools (like did you know that the former Chairperson Bart Harvey was instrumental in bringing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to life)  if Enterprise did not consistantly rally the troops and  lobby the Hill (which for you non-political types is Capital Hill). The past 8 years has not been for the faint of heart in this business–and Enterprise has demonstrated its “Terminator” like strength frequently. With the prowess of its public policy team, and the leadership of the affable and “way smarter than your average bear”, Doris Koo, Enterprise has fought the good fight–and often won.  From Ms. Koo’s testimony and presentation of a $10 billion dollar request as  a part of the Housing and Economic Recovery act to fund a program to help stabilze communties rampaged by foreclosure, came the $3.9 billion dollar Neighborhood Stabilization Fund. (How it will work is a conversation for another day) And with a change in the wind,  Enterprise is poised to go back and ask for that $6.1 billion that was left off the table.

Here’s hoping they can get some fixes to Low-Income Housing Tax Credit or who knows if any affordable housing projects will get done!

As a matter of fact, how ’bout we all write are Congress person or Senator and help them out?

Innovation Station

These days, whenever I here the term “innovation”, all I see is the dude dressed up like a superhero with an “I“ on his chest.

Eprise might as well be a hyper 18-year old with an iPhone and Mac Powerbook in its messenger bag.  If you want to know what’s up with Eprise, not a problem.

They Twitter.

They FaceBook.

Not One…

Not Two…

But Three Times. (In three different ways)

They are LinkedIN.

They Podcast from time to time on the nonprofit channel  (you have to check out the podcast of Donna Brazille–brilliant!)

And whatever “Squiddo” is? They do that too.

Wheew! That made me tired. They’re a busy little bunch aren’t they?

Now, go forth and be productive…or don’t and spend some time fiddling with the links I just gave you!

* K Nicole is an employee of Enterprise-but she is not writing this for her job. She just thinks they are cool! ( Most of the time!)

Commissioner Donovan, or Should I Call you Mr. Secretary?

Wow! New York City Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner, Shaun Donovan has been pegged to head up HUD (I don’t know about other folks, but he was always on my list.)?! I tell ya’, I almost did a dance this morning. No, not because I am Mr. Donovan’s number one fan (because I am not-I am still a little pissed off about the implementation of the inclusionary zoning provision-which is not inclusionary at all.), but because it’s about time someone with some significant housing experience, respect within the community development community, and some proven ability to manage large scale housing initiatives was appointed to run what is probably the most beleaguered agency in the Fed (i.e., the poster child for the red-headed step-kid).  

The history of HUD over the past 27 years has been checkered, to put it much too kindly. And it seems the Obama transition team recognizes that HUD cannot be a second-tier partner, if revitalizing our urban infrastructure and stemming the foreclosure tide is an integral part in turning around the economic outlook of the country-and of his domestic agenda.

 

It is quite refreshing to see an incoming administration that believes HUD can and should be fixed-not left to die like a rotting corpse or driven into the ground by cronyism.  Unlike the past 3 administrations (okay, two, the Clinton’s gave it the old college try with Cisneros and Cuomo), the transition team has gone 180 degrees away from crooks like Jackson, housing know-nothings Martinez, or  conniving “Uncle” crooks like Mr. Pierce and his former cocktail waitressing henchlady, Deborah Gore Dean.

 

As a matter of fact, the last promising HUD secretary, was not even appointed during a Democratic administration as you might suspect, it was G.W.H. Bush, who unwittingly gave HUD a fighting chance. And guess what? When it became apparent that he might actually want to do “something” to fix the scandal-ridden department, the administration practically ran poor Mr. Kemp out of town with a shotgun for bothering. (And when I say do something, I am mostly referring to the fact that he was not trying to dismantle it.)

 

I guess, G.W, was sent up for clean-up bat on that one with Martinez and then Mr. Jackson?

 

These consistently uninterested and largely unqualified leaders have left behind a badly beaten agency, with abysmal working conditions (have you ever seen the HUD building in DC-Gawd save them all!!), and terrible morale.  It is an agency that has stumbled badly and for lack of a good plan has become purely reactionary.  You might as well take the Urban out of HUD, as urban policy issues as the urban core has not been of interest in decades.  Summarily, the agency has a cacophony of programs that don’t work well together (with mere band-aid solutions to try to fix them), and has been so loathed on the hill that it has next to no influence on the low-income housing tax credit (key word: Housing), arguably the largest funding source for rental housing development for low and moderate income folks. As a matter of fact, the program is housed in the Treasury (whether this a good idea or not-don’t know).

 

In a nutshell, HUD desperately needs a successful housing manager who can wrap his arms around the whole mess (and of course it helps that he was also briefly an assistant secretary in the agency during the Clinton years.) and just possibly take a big enough bite out of the nut to make some traction. It seems Mr. Donovan might just have the gall to do it. After all, taking 30,000 vacant units and turning them into viable housing was no picnic-and definitely no easy feat.  As a matter of fact, he might have a better chance at turning HUD into a viable, productive agency than most.

 

Provided Mr. Donovan recognizes NYC is the exception not the rule, life for housing folk might get rosier.  But in the end, from where HUD sits in the heart and minds of many today, things can only look up! 

The Not So Impervious New York Market

There has been a lot of weeping and nashing of the teeth about the current state of capital markets–rightfully so. And as we know, a lot of the blame can be spread around, lenders, investors, underwriters, brokers, and consumers all got a little to euphoric over the belief that the while the market might plateau, fall it would not. Of course, not the case.

District of Columbia. HOT! market from 2002-2007 now has significant condo inventory not moving and one of the highest declines in home values in the nation.

Same can be said for Miami.

San Diego

Los Angeles

But supposedly not for New York.

Ah, let me be one of those folks getting in line to say, yes New York too. Now don’t get me wrong NY by no means has the same level of problem as so many other markets in the US. Decline in NY is nominal. But any decline at all is telling of what means it ain’t getting better.  

Anecdotally, looking at apartment listing on Craigslist made me wonder if the New York market was springing a slow leak. I noticed words like “Negotiable” in lots of ads. Negotiable brokers fees, negotiable lease terms, even negotiable rent. A couple of people were even giving “$100 off” rent concessions. Never in my adult lifetime have I ever seen anything like that. So many times I have gone to look at a “cozy one bedroom” to find out it was a studio with an extra wall and then watched the apartment get snapped up while I am standing there trying to decide if I can live in a cave with a toaster oven next to a crack house for the low low price of $1200+.  Now, I am a smart saavy NY girl with technology in the palm of my hand, and I was surprised to see that many of these places were in fairly decent to nice neighborhoods.

What is really going on?

But statistically, the number of multi-family buildings and condominiums compared to second quarter 2007 has declined steadily because of capital market constraints. That means lots of folks are out of the market–even in New York where it seems like no matter what the cost, someone is always in.

And then, of course, there is the unsettling up tick in the number of foreclosures in Manhattan. (which will probably be saved by quick sell…of course)

Now, this might simply be a blip on the radar screen, but after the dismal mid-year meeting I just sat in, the news for some of the biggest banks continue to worsen. And as Mayor Bloomberg often says, New York is way to dependent on the presence of Wall Street.

Huffing and Puffing and Giving In (and other mid-week tidbits)

As the housing market continues to give many of us in and outside of the real estate business agina, it seems Mr. Bush has decided to back off his veto threat of the housing stimulus bill…

I guess just the unsubstantiated rumor that Fannie or Freddie to could be vulnerable to a collapse was enough to make him decide his legacy was already tarnished enough.

The news of the President’s decision to nix the veto threat is making the folks on Wall Street breath a little more freely. ( I can see them chair dancing right now. Ok, maybe just a little shimmy)

Perhaps, that is why the gas station on the corner was able to drop my brand from $4.25 a gallon to $4.19…I better go fill up before they come back to their senses.

Speaking of bank collapses, it seems IndyMac is set to be purchased by Prospect Mortgage.

Now, who really believes that Prospect is going to keep the banking services in tact???

And last, but not least, Secretary Paulson says we can exit this housing mess in a “matter of months.”

If I was a betting person, I’d bet not.

Nightmare on Cul-de-Sac Street

So, a blogging buddy of mine just put up a post about the “death of the Suburbs” myth.  He discusses an article written in last Sunday’s LA Times that purports that the suburbs are not dying–and will not die because so many jobs moved to the suburbs in the last 20 years. 

At least the Times journalist and I agree on one thing–Many jobs did relocate to the suburbs and are still located their.  The transistion is a matter of historical perspective and economics. Suburban living became ubiquitous with the American Dream shortly after World War II. Couple that with the decline of cities as residents left for the suburbs greener pastures and it gave way to urban blight and decay. By the 1970’s, So many people had moved out of the city it not only made job retention sense, but economic sense to move a large company out to the The decision was two to the burbs. And lets not forget the incentive of cheap cheap cheap land, and there is the icing on the cake.

But then, the 90’s came and cities like NYC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Cleveland began to incentivize the  relocation of companies to revitalized in-town locations to make it not only “chic” but economically more attractive to be in-town.  Sprawl, traffic, and energy costs associated with sprawling corporate locations became less attractive.

For the last 10 years the trend away from suburban living has increased. People are changing the way in which they view how they prefer to live and work. Energy costs, traffic, and time spent commuting are making many–particularly young professionals, empty nesters, and to some degree young small families, rethink the benefits of far out, automobile fueled suburban living.

I think agree more with this guy. The suburbs may not be dead, but their ’sprawling mcmasion, two cars in the driveway’ dreams may be fading into the distance, and a new vision of transit and pedestrian orientated homestead may be the key to remaining desirable places to live.

Getting to Know All About You (And other mid-week tidbits)

Clearly, I have a penchant for old show-tune-ee, 50’s movie musical songs. But they are catchy, and appropos for this series of topics.

But I digress. On with the show.

Everyday there seems to be a new article about the cost of gas and what it means to the future of suburban America. As you might have guessed, I have long taken issue with the constant and consistent design of suburban subdivisions of “little boxes on the hillside”, and secretly look forward to the day they stop being so popular.  

But what does the increase in the cost of suburban living  mean to the current state of American livelihood? America and the term ’suburb’ are pratically ubiquitous. Since the end of War War II,  the last 60 years of infrastructure development has concentrated on the connection of suburbs. Most public transportation initiatives have been created for suburban ”choice riders”–the commuters who need to quickly get into the center city and just as quickly get out.  Our interstate system, more or less, has also been extended and expanded to do the same. 

The image of the suburb as the only way to live in a safe, clean environment has helped produce, a deep fear for many, of all things urban?  Does the ever climbing price of gas mean many will take a closer look at urban living?  Does this gas “issue” really mean that people will move to communities where there is not a quarter of an acre between them and there neighbor ? 

• Garrison Keillior says goodbye Winnebago…Hello, front porch

Darn, I always wanted to take a cross country trip in one…if I had only done it 5 years ago!

 

• Arthur J. Magida says the American Family Car Trip might be going the way of the Dodo bird.

Perhaps, more folks will do local stuff that can be reached by the commuter train, like here. 

• The U.K.’s,  Telegraph, thinks there is a broad cultural shift going on.

The question is, is this shift happening for families too? Seems the experts haven’t dug that deep yet.

• But, alas! In NYC, some families take the suburban dive–only to return to the city.

I wonder how much the “City Snob” factor has to do with that…after all NYC prides itself on being the exception, leader, to every rule.

The jury is still out on what gas prices and inflation will really mean to the livelihood of 2nd and 3rd tier suburbs which require a car to go to 7-11, but it can’t be helping when families are already squeezed by the ‘work harder make the less’ movement of the economy.  The big impact to me–is when families start moving closer to cities–and that would take either a significant fix to the public education system in most places or the decision to bite the bullet on private, charter, or montessori education. But that is a discussion for another day.

 

Necessity is a Mother (and other interesting midweek tidbits)

2008 has been incredibly interesting, challenging, and down right frustrating in many rhelms. We are on the verge of a historical presidential election. The 8 year sentence is almost up. And, well, the economy, is…well sputtering along even if you didn’t use your stimulus check to go buy a big flat screen TV. 

But all of these challenges, might actually be a blessing in disguise for those in real estate–especially for those in affordable housing development, advocacy, or policy. It’s requires a moment of pause, reflection, and an evaluation of the direction the real estate boom/bust has taken all of us–market rate or not. 

And it seems between scrambling to save face, averting another financial “crisis”, or trying to figure out how to get deals done in one of the most challenging environments ever–well the actions have been interesting to save the least. 

Let’s take a looksee, shall we? 

 

• The DC Metro area had one of the highest appreciation rates in the country–and now has one of the highest depreciation area. That goes for the rapidly expanding (to the point of massive congestion) and rapidly unaffordable Prince William County, VA. In response? The county government has enacted a loan program to address the rate of foreclosure as well as to address homeownership affordability–at least for one group. 

           They get an A for effort–but its not that original. Many places have been there, done that, and failed to accomplish the end goal. Let’s hope they look at other programs to identify successes and failures…then again this is government.

• Regardless of whether you agree with some sort of assistance for homeowners who have been “caught out there” with the sub-prime/Alt-A mortgage mess, I would hope we all agree that there is a significant procedural issue in identifying who actually holds the note–especially if you are a homeowner who wishes to contact you lender to negotiate some sort of repayment option if you are behind. That’s why I think, on face value, this works. And could be a model for other states. 

Now, if only this Governor guy could get it.

• While not innovative, its about time. Baltimore gets it together to create a land bank for all those vacants they talked about on The Wire. 

Guess the new mayor has the political will to do something about it–rather than use B’more as a stepping stone to the Governor’s mansion (watch the last season of the wire–uncannily true about a former mayor I will not mention.) Of course, the proof will be in the figgy pudding. 

• And lastly, as homebuilders scramble to get rid of inventory, keep building, and keep their stock from taking that long walk off the short pier to bankruptcy, the incentives just keep a coming

1. Bozzutto Homes has a “make us an offer” sale
2. Get a free mortgage payment in Florida.    

Isn’t this how some of them got into trouble in the first place??

What responses to the “real estate” decline have you read about or implemented that is interesting, innovative, or just down right dumb? Please share.                                         

Fannie Mae Caves…

Great news coming out of the housing policy world. It seems housing policy advocates have one a victory regarding Fannie Mae’s changes to the declining market policy.

And this is fabulous news for low and moderate income home buyers and others who might be looking to buy a home in markets that might have been percieved as declining…

Sort of.

Upside Down Does Not= Walking Away (Necessarily)

I have argued this point professionally, in my own research, and sitting around the dinner table.

Owner-Occupants are not necessarily walking away from their homes because they are upside down, i.e negative equity ( Thanks Tom). Just like they have not in the past.

If they have the means, they are staying put.

After all, before the bubble, most folks who were purchasing homes to live in them saw them as long term investments.

Or places to raise families, have children, and do never ending yard work.

To Pay Rent or Eat? That is the Question? (And other interesting midweek tidbits)

• It seems that 1 in 3 New Yorkers is paying more than 50% of their take home pay in rent. If you’ve ever looked at the Real Estate section in a New York paper or been faced with the unfortunate task all NY’ers dread–looking for a no-fee apartment that isn’t rat infested, this is not a surprise.  I bet if we did a national study most people are paying more than the 30% standard applied in measuring housing affordability.

Sorry, NYC, we know how you like to be the exception to the rule. This time you simply prove the fallacy of the rule

 

• If you think the US Housing market is the worst in the world, try the UK on for size.

 

• Tomorrow, the House votes on the bill meant to help stimulate housing and stem foreclosures. Of course, after it passed the Senate, it pretty much wasted paper.  Don’t worry, I will be posting on what I think about it verrrrrry soon.

 

• Hmmm, who knew that the foreclosure crisis would adversely effect renters?  I wonder what types of renters those would be?

 

Well, I gotta go pay the man for the roof over my head and by some more Ramen.  Anybody got any positive housing news? Please share.