Recently, I have been focusing on helping Rhode Island Community Development Agencies find and acquire blighted or foreclosed properties to rehab and sell to low income or rehab and rent to low and mixed income individuals. There are alot of agencies that are doing basically the same thing but focused in different areas of the state. If they are not using a Realtor, they are doing alot of leg work and tying up a good amount of labor to find and acquire these properties. They could refocus their efforts to perform other important functions such as obtaining the necessary funding, managing the construction and controlling costs. Often the person assigned to find the properties has many other duties and cannot jump in when the opportunity arises. Included in the services that I perform for these non profit agencies are finding and following up on the actual owners of the abandoned and blighted properties to see if they are willing to sell. I check on code violations that may be liens on the property before they make offers. I obtain copies of plat maps to determine if parking is available for the owners/tenants. I preview the properties and take pictures for the agency and recommend amounts to offer. I know they are short staffed and overworked and if I can help them do what they do best, that makes me feel better. It is very gratifying to see some one come in and take care of these houses and bring back these once beautiful old neighborhoods that have been neglected for so long.
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