At the October CNNC General Membership meeting, the membership unanimously approved moving forward on the Great House Sale II. The program will focus on pairing vacant and tax delinquent houses with potential homeowners who will renovate and live in these formerly vacant and tax delinquent houses.

CNNC will submit up to six tax delinquent properties for the next City Treasurer’s Sale in April 2013 to begin the process of building an inventory for prospective homebuyers to choose from. Here’s how it will work:

• The geographic focus for the program includes streets north of Jacksonia and east of Federal.
• To be eligible for the program, properties must be vacant and at least two years tax delinquent.
• Once the property is placed on the City’s Treasurer’s Sale, it will take approximately 18 months to clear its title and become eligible for purchase by an end buyer.
• During that time, CNNC will work with local banks, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) to market purchase rehab loans to prospective home buyers.
• Homes will be available to individuals and households that commit to occupy them as their primary residence.
• CNNC anticipates that pricing for these homes, all of which will need a complete renovation, will average $10,000.

David Shlapak, CNNC’s Development Committee Chair noted, “We are pleased to establish a program that is focused exclusively on homeownership, and targeted to areas of our neighborhood that the Community Master Plan highlighted for development.”

The Great House Sale II will provide another tool in CNNC’s development toolkit. The organization has worked with larger scale developers such as S&A Homes and October Development, and recently awarded properties to smaller developers through its mini-RFP process. The Great House Sale provides an opportunity for wouldbe homeowners to participate in the neighborhood’s revitalization at an attractive price point.