Golden Opportunity For Subsidized Housing?

ORLANDO, FL - With hundreds of vacant homes and condos in the Orlando area, many of them in foreclosure, with banks looking to unload them for less than $100,000, some experts say the answer to the region's seemingly intractable affordable-housing crisis is staring us in the face. "This is a golden opportunity" for government-subsidized housing programs to lock in deals from the private sector for badly needed residential units, said Robert E. Smith, president of Smith Equities Real Estate Investment Advisors of Orlando and a longtime industry professional.

As soaring energy prices push up the cost of construction, the older homes and apartment-to-condo conversions caught in the housing slump cannot be built for anything near their current asking prices. And Orlando and Tampa have more vacant houses and condos than any other major city in the country, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey.

Another advantage offered by these relatively inexpensive houses and condos: They are not concentrated in one spot, so the usual problem of how to integrate subsidized housing into the community is not an issue, as it is with most new construction. Unfortunately, government agencies are also under pressure from the weak bond market, falling tax revenues and the wobbly economy, which are conspiring to prevent affordable-housing advocates from taking a major leap forward as the private sector stumbles.

"We're all talking about this, working hard to find solutions. But the easy answers are just not there," said Jeff Kiss, president of Kiss & Co. in Winter Park and a board member of the Florida Housing Coalition. Kiss, another longtime housing-and-finance executive, said the situation is doubly frustrating because existing-home and condo-conversion prices are finally slipping to more-affordable levels -- yet many properties sit empty or soon will be through foreclosure.

A recent check of listings in the core Orlando market showed that a dozen properties being offered for less than $99,000 were Fannie Mae homes, foreclosed on after their owners failed to pay a mortgage held by that government-chartered, publicly traded company.

For example, a two-bedroom, one-bath home on Groton Street in east Orange County that sold for $162,000 at the peak of the market three years ago is now being offered for $95,000. The home has a little less than 1,000 square feet of living space, extensive interior and exterior updates, wood-laminate floors and a tile porch overlooking the backyard. Orange County had the home and lot assessed last year for tax purposes at $129,228, though this year it reduced that to $115,596.

HUD homes sometimes sell for even less money, though they are often snapped up by rental-pool investors looking for homes that need extensive work. For example, one home on Kaley Street in Orlando that was acquired by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the result of a foreclosure was recently offered for sale at $36,100. But the independent inspector's report on the property detailed a long list of problems with the four-bedroom, 1.5-bath home, from bad wiring and plumbing to missing parts such as the air conditioner.

"We do everything we can to keep people in their home," said Jerri Magruder, public affairs manager for HUD's district office in Orlando. "We very seldom have one of our houses come on the market, because we have a very active loss-mitigation program." These days, even homes not held or marketed by government agencies are showing up priced at less than $100,000 in local Realtors' regular Multiple Listing Service. Orlando Regional Realtor Association members had 1,358 homes, town houses and condos for sale in June with asking prices of $99,000 or less. More than 10 percent of those were on sale for less than $60,000.

While that's a tiny fraction of the