Categories: Articles, Columnists, Harlem, Rev. Dr. Charles Butler,
For those who are now just coming to the realization that owning a home makes good sense, congratulations for reaching that conclusion. However, buying a home in Harlem has become an extremely expensive financial process. For the past few decades, the market values of homes in Harlem have been soaring higher and higher. There seems to be no end in sight! The great demand to purchase a home in Harlem continues to drive up the prices.
Unfortunately, for most of Harlem’s residents it is now too late in the game to buy that multi-family brownstone that you dreamed about. If you are fortunate maybe you can be selected from a NYC Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development (HPD) lottery to purchase a subsidized unit (usually cooperative or condominium) at an affordable price. But those opportunities are a long shot at best as the lottery housing stock in Harlem also has decreased greatly over the years.
The irony is when Harlem was affordable, many people who could financially afford to buy a home wanted nothing to do with Harlem and moved out. They thought homeownership in Harlem was a bad investment in a community that was run down, had low property value, and there would be little return on their investment.
Their desire was to live in a safer environment and thought that moving farther out of the inner city would create a better living conditions and improve the quality of life for their family. Most of the banks in Harlem participated in an illegal practice of ‘red lined’ which prevented community residents from being approved for a mortgage. Those having the foresight of seeing the value of the property in Harlem found difficulty in securing a mortgage. Plus, only a few people understood the advantages of homeownership especially the tax benefits and the creating of intergenerational wealth through building up equity.
Now that Harlem has become an attractive community everyone wants to purchase a home in the area. It is ironic because many people born in Harlem, who have lived in Harlem all their lives, worked in Harlem, have suffered through all the plight, and unpleasantness are unable to buy because of the high prices.
But if you were set on purchasing a home in Harlem do not despair. Despite the high prices, there are still some available affordable properties in the community. The most affordable units are the Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) co-ops. These units are reasonably priced and provide an excellent opportunity to create equity to make a larger purchase. Most local real estate brokers will have a listing of available units.
Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement offers a 4-part virtual home buyer education seminar series that will have you prepare for becoming a homeowner. For information on these programs, attending the workshop or questions related to the home buying process, contact Rev. Charles Butler at (212) 281-4887 ext. 231 or email at cbutler@hcci.org.
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