Everyone needs a place to live. For those of us who develop housing, it can be difficult to distinguish between the many different terms used for housing types. Lately, attainable housing has emerged as a term used to describe housing affordable for households in the moderate-income ranges, which means households between 80-120% of area median income (AMI). This can be confusing because affordable housing has been used to describe both generally affordable housing and housing with subsidies attached to it for lower-income households. The attainable housing term has come along to help with this confusion. Affordable housing has now been…
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When someone needs to sell their house and hires an agent, typically the agent will disclose the commissions, including the cooperating broker’s commission; usually 2.5-3%. This commission is then advertised on the MLS with the house listing, letting buyer agents know how much they can make by selling that house. Because commissions are based on a percentage of the agreed-upon gross sale price, both the selling and the buying agents are incentivized to sell every house for the highest price possible. Since the commission is paid for by the seller and both agents are pushing prices high, all agents involved…
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Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) A form of community development that identifies and utilizes a place’s strengths rather than focusing on needs and/or deficiencies. The main benefit of ABCD is the ability to engage and mobilize the community affected by plans and future developments creating immediate buy-in from stakeholders contributing to the sustainability of projects. https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/resources/Documents/WhatisAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment.pdf Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) A secondary residence located on a lot zoned for single-family residential. These can be attached to the primary structure, a separate building, or by converting spaces like basements, attics, or garages into additional living space. ADUs create indirect ways of creating…
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The term affordable housing is used a lot these days. It used to mean subsidized housing for low to moderate income households. Now it might just mean housing that most people can afford. Why is it so hard for first time homebuyers to find an affordable home?