NeighborWorks Organizations Improve Community One Home at a Time With Rehab Efforts

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - April 26, 2016) - NeighborWorks organizations assisted more than 7,700 homeowners with rehab projects last year, an increase of ten percent over the year before, and 14 percent higher than 2013. NeighborWorks organizations also helped homeowners complete more than 4,700 owner-occupied repairs, an increase of 30 percent from 2014. Data are for fiscal years ending Sept. 30.

"By helping owners rehab and repair their homes, NeighborWorks achieves a number of community development goals, including helping owners improve their homes' energy efficiency resulting in lower costs, the livability and healthfulness of their homes, and stimulate the fixing up of blighted homes that can transform neighborhoods and create community assets," said Tom Deyo, vice president of real estate programs at NeighborWorks America.

More than forty-five percent of NeighborWorks organizations provide home rehab or repair services, often connecting homeowners with loan and grant products that could make the cost of significant rehab work more affordable than what's available from traditional lenders.

The NeighborWorks data were released today to recognize national home improvement month which begins May 1.

"NeighborWorks is committed to helping lower income owners realize sustainable homeownership," Deyo added. "On one hand, we support sustainable homeownership by helping homebuyers understand the mortgage process, a process that two-thirds of Americans say is complicated.

"On the other hand, we foster sustainability by helping owners understand the rehab process. That understanding includes shopping for a mortgage product like a 203K loan that incorporates rehab work in the financing of a home. In addition, local NeighborWorks organizations encourage purchasers to work with a home inspector to be as aware as possible about property needs that may need to be addressed immediately or soon after purchase, and NeighborWorks offers guidance on choosing a qualified contractor that could help homeowners avoid home improvement scams," said Deyo.

For a list of NeighborWorks organizations that provide home rehab and repair work, visit www.neighborworks.org/our-network.

About NeighborWorks America
For more than 35 years, NeighborWorks America, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit, has created opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $24.5 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.

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