As missed rent and mortgage payments mount amid the pandemic, many expect a significant rise in home foreclosures, as well as a “potential bonanza” in sales of multifamily rentals. Opportunistic private equity firms are raising funds to buy up properties when owners are pressed to sell homes and apartment buildings, like what occurred after the economic crash of 2008.
There is an urgent need right now to preserve the affordability of this critical housing stock in Atlanta, Miami and across the country from being lost to the impending sell-off and protect millions of low-income families, especially communities of color who are being hardest hit by the pandemic, from being displaced from their home, or worse, becoming homeless. With storm season coming soon, making affordable homes more resilient through preservation will be needed to protect the stock from even greater loss.
To equip developers and owners with the tools and knowledge they need to successfully acquire and preserve a property, Enterprise Community Partners has developed Tipping the Scale, a new small- to medium-scale multifamily preservation toolkit, that will make it easier for owners and developers in Atlanta and Miami to understand the benefits and opportunities in preserving unsubsidized affordable small- to medium-multifamily (SMMF) housing.
Part of Enterprise Southeast's Keep Stock preservation program, the easy-to-use toolkit covers a comprehensive array of instructive topics, including:
- Preservation basics
- Acquisition recommendations
- Financing strategies and models
- Negotiation and deal-closing practices
- Rehabilitation and repair recommendations
- Property and assessment management tips for small properties
The toolkit provides project profiles of preservation deals, an interactive financial modeling tool, and a resource guide for the Atlanta and Miami markets.
Why a Toolkit?
We seek to “tip the scale” from large-scale development towards the preservation of unsubsidized affordable SMMF housing by expanding the pool of mission-aligned developers interested in acquiring and preserving the critical stock.
What’s at Stake
Much of the affordable housing in Atlanta and Miami, as well as across the country, is made up of small and medium multifamily rental properties which are affordable, even though they operate without government subsidy.
This type of housing fills a critical and growing demand in providing affordable residences for low- and moderate-income families. If they are bought by speculators, the stock will disappear for good and already-vulnerable families will be forced to move further away from good schools, quality jobs, health care and supportive social networks.
And with the impending storm season and changing climate, the stock of affordable homes needs to be made more resilient from whatever disasters may strike, or further loss will take place.
Supporting a Preservation Strategy
Many recognize that preservation of unsubsidized affordable housing is a critical strategy for addressing the urgent needs of low-income families. We are grateful to JPMorgan Chase, State Farm Insurance Companies, Health Foundation of South Florida, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Charles M. and Mary D. Grant Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Mary Allen Lindsey Branan Foundation for helping to advance the strategy by generously supporting the development and deployment of the Tipping the Scale toolkit .
Sign Up for Free Training Webinars
Join one of our free training webinars where we will review the full toolkit, including the interactive financial modeling tool.
There are no webinars at this time. If you or your organization is interested in learning more, please contact Sara Haas, director, Southeast.
About the Keep Stock Preservation Program
Enterprise Southeast’s Keep Stock preservation program ensures that the affordability of both currently subsidized and unsubsidized affordable housing is preserved. The program fosters preservation by facilitating financing to help mission-driven developers acquire properties, building the capacity of nonprofit and mission-aligned developers to acquire and maintain properties at risk of losing affordability, and forming coalitions to advocate for policies that keep the housing stock affordable.