The goal of the Home Preservation Project is to acquire certain abandoned homes or vacant properties and sell them back directly to eligible homeowners or investors who will upgrade them to market standards. The rehabbers can then sell the properties to families or residents who wish to live in them — but cannot turn the properties into rental units.
The city offers tax credits to rehabbers who sell the properties to owner-occupied buyers.
Of the original five properties, mostly on the east side of Xenia, two are in the process of closing the sale, but the remaining three “have yet to receive qualifying offers,” per city documents.
“There is currently great interest from the building community in these vacant lots, so the faster we can move the properties the sooner the private sector can return them to productive use,” said Community Development Coordinator Ryan Baker.
Eight properties are currently listed as available under the program, according to the city’s website.
Eligible properties within this program may be acquired in a variety of ways, including donation and tax foreclosure, Baker said.
Xenia has had a large number of properties with delinquent property taxes, mostly on the east side, the city previously told the Dayton Daily News. Many of these properties were abandoned, or with their owners deceased.
City and county officials have since pushed for moving the foreclosure process forward on these properties, so they can be put back into productive use.
Interested builders should contact the city’s Community Development Coordinator for details.
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