I saw a news article on FOX News the other night about the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors (GPAR) combined with a few of our local Realtors joining forces with the City of Philadelphia to sell blighted properties that are owned the City. In addition I read an article about it in "The Pennsylvania Realtor".
Being that I think this is such a GREAT IDEA, I wanted to mention it in our blog as well !
The City of Philadelphia and its agencies own more than 35,000 properties, many of which are abandoned shells or "blighted" properties. These properties become havens for squatters and drug houses. Further, they bring down the values of all the other properties on the block and in the neighborhood. I am not too sure what their goal has been in the past in holding these properties, many of which are owned by the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia. Saving them for a rainy day ? Holding out for real estate appreciation ? I have no idea. (If anyone knows why cities would hold on to these properties instead of selling them through a program like this, please comment below.)
The benefits of the SCOPE (Selling City Owned Properties Efficiently) program are enormous. Not only are transfer taxes paid to the city and the properties put back on the tax roll, but more importantly, the properties can finally begin to be refurbished, thus improving the immediate neighborhood and community !
The example that Kim Shindle gives in her article in The Pennsylvania Realtor is Baltimore: "The City of Baltimore joined forces with the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors and successfully launched this program, selling more than 250 properties and generating $6 million in revenue for the city." Wow ! In this current economic crunch, I am sure the City of Philadelphia would be all over this program. So they agreed to let 9 properties go. Not sure why it is not 900 but it is a start ! All great things need to start somewhere...
So I wanted to take this moment and give a loud congrats to GPAR who made this happen and the Realtors instrumental in this program, Al Perry, William Festa and Jin Gao. I think together working with the City this could lead to something extremely beneficial to our taxpayers of Philadelphia !
What are your thoughts about the potential of this progam ?
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If interested in buying or selling properties in Philadelphia, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com or 215-400-2612 . You can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter . For investment properties, check out our new investor site at Philly Investor Hub !
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