Real estate crowdfunding provides investors with an array of projects to choose from, and AHP is using this growing online marketplace to offer social impact investing opportunities that benefit homeowners and communities nationwide. Vacant homes tend to drag down communities, and AHP recently put a new homeowner in a Cleveland property that had become a neighborhood nuisance.
When AHP acquired this vacant Cleveland home in December 2013, the first step was to reach out to a local real estate agent to list the property. When Matthew, a real estate agent based out of Cleveland got to the property, he noticed that somebody other than a tenant had been coming and going. “It looked like there was just a lot of stuff left behind,” Matthew said. “There was certainly a break-in, and there appeared to be squatters.”
Matthew noted this situation was very common for this particular neighborhood due to the large number of vacant homes. “Houses get broken into over there, even when there’s nothing in there,” said Matthew. “They break-in just to break-in, all the time.” Despite this activity, Matthew was confident the property would eventually sell because of its affordability.
Just recently, the right buyer surfaced. With Matthew’s help, AHP was able to provide a woman on disability with an affordable home while rebuilding a neighborhood overrun with vacant properties. Given the affordable price, the new homeowner was able to buy the house outright with cash and plans to renovate the property. Matthew believes having a buyer who plans to live in the property is a positive step for this neighborhood.
“Especially in those areas, it does better to have more permanent residents—people who outright own the property instead of having a mortgage,” said Matthew. “Having somebody who has actually paid for the house and intends to live in it as owner-occupant, in my opinion it certainly does better for the neighborhood.”