If You're In Desperate Need Of An Affordable House, Baltimore Is Selling Them For $1

For the past several years, concerns about affordable housing have grown from a whisper to a scream for help as housing prices spiraled past the point of affordability for millions of Americans. Residents nationwide demanded action, and Baltimore has heeded the call with the recent approval of a city program that would sell some city-owned vacant homes for as little as $1.

How To Buy Houses In Baltimore For $1

The program, known as Buy into Bmore, is designed to spur home ownership in some of Baltimore's most underserved neighborhoods, so it comes with specific requirements. Prospective buyers must pledge to renovate the property they purchase and demonstrate that they have at least $90,000 to spend on necessary repairs. They will also be required to move into the home within one year of purchasing it, and they must reside there for a full five years.

Restrictions And Terms Of Ownership

Buy into Bmore's planners were cognizant of the fact that their program has the potential to do more harm than good if developers can simply pay $1 each to buy homes and then flip them after making renovations, and they put in guardrails to help ensure the properties are owned by people committed to Baltimore for the long term. Only individual buyers or community land trusts would qualify to purchase properties for just $1.

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Nonprofit organizations with 50 employees or fewer are required to pay $2,000 for the properties, while nonprofits with more than 50 employees must pay $3,000. For-profit developers and short-term flippers who live off-site or out of the area are not eligible to purchase homes under the program's guidelines. Despite that, some city leaders don't feel like local interests are adequately protected.

Program Vote Was Not Unanimous 

City Council President Nick Mosby cast the only dissenting vote on the program, which was approved 4-1 by the rest of the council. In giving his reasons for voting against the project, Mosby expressed concerns that the program didn't give city residents priority for purchasing the properties and that the program lacks any contingency plans to make sure residents in the neighborhood aren't priced out when the market picks up.

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During the open debate period before the vote, Mosby said, "If affordability and affordable home ownership and equity and all of the nice words we like to use are really at the core competency as it relates to property disposition, this is a really bad policy. This is a bad policy because it doesn't protect or prioritize the rights of folks in these communities."

The Baltimore Program Is A Tremendous Opportunity

Despite Mosby's objections, the Buy into Bmore program is an outstanding potential avenue to homeownership that millions of Americans would jump at the chance to get involved. That's what the city of Baltimore is banking on. But buyers won't necessarily be getting a golden ticket.  Most of the available homes will be in some of Baltimore's most challenging neighborhoods.

Living there for the required five years could be difficult for people who aren't accustomed to the challenges of living in economically challenged areas. But the upside potential is obvious. The average home price in Baltimore is $257,000, so it's hard to imagine $1 city-owned homes not selling like hotcakes. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of more innovative programs to spur home ownership in America's cities. 

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