Housing nonprofit celebrates completion of first renovation
Apr. 24—A nonprofit aimed at rehabilitating houses in need of fixing up for first-time buyers celebrated the ribbon-cutting of its first completed property.
Housing Improvement Initiative recently celebrated its first project, a property at 417 A St., going on the market. The three-bedroom, one-bathroom house was originally purchased in 2023 with various structural and integral issues. Now, it stands tall, up for sale for $129,000.
The women-owned initiative started back in March of 2023, with Ashley Albers, Michelle Clark, Tara Horn and Sarah Weaver at the helm. The idea came after the four women were talking about the need for housing in St. Joseph, especially for first-time home buyers.
"We don't have a housing shortage, we have a housing quality shortage," said Ashley Albers, co-founder. "So we said, 'What if somebody could do this where they take on houses, rehab them, and then market them to first-time homebuyers?"
And they did just that, starting with the A Street property. It didn't just stop with rehabbing; they also created an education program for first-time buyers.
"We are partnering with lots of subject matter experts in the community from mortgage bankers and brokers to realtors, insurance agents," Albers said. "All of the people that are involved in the homebuying process, from offer to inspection and everything."
They broke down the homebuying process into a five-month program. The goal is for homebuyers to realize that owning a home is attainable for them.
"There is really a shortage of houses in that 100 to 150, 175 (thousand) market. There's just not a lot of inventory there. So first-time homebuyers are getting squeezed out," she said.
However, the Housing Improvement Initiative wants to change that narrative. They don't want to see buyers lose hope when it comes to getting a home.
"When you see our employees' faces light up when they realize ... I can own a home, I don't have to rent forever."
For 417 A St. specifically, they had to overcome some challenges.
"When we purchased this house, there was a tree growing out of the foundation, which is not ideal," Albers said.
Because of the foundation issues, the house wasn't able to be financed. Instead, they had to rely on a cash buyer. Luckily, some private donations helped take care of that.
"Finding the foundation contractors is probably the hardest thing that we've run into with all of the houses that we're working on. Contractors are really busy and foundation work isn't fun," Albers said.
On top of foundation issues, they had to correct the wet basement, put in new flooring, a new HVAC system and more.
"This house didn't have any closets in it. It's an older home and had no closet, which wouldn't pass an FHA inspection for a first-time homebuyer. So we added closets," she said.
Though the renovation process was difficult, the strength of teamwork kept the group going, Albers said.
Clark, whom they call "operations," keeps track of paperwork, taxes and finances. Albers uses her background in human resources to put together the education program. Weaver had a career in mortgage lending, so her expertise is with lending and now real estate. Lastly, Horn, a realtor, knows different programs and local resources to help the Housing Improvement Initiative.
"We are really kind of the perfect storm of a team, which is why people have a hard time saying no to us sometimes," Albers said.
Despite this being their first completed property, they've already made an impact. One member of the Housing Improvement Initiative's homebuying boot camp actually grew up at 417 A St.
"That was one of those moments when it was just like, 'Yes, the universe is telling us that we are doing the right thing,'" Albers said. "That was a full body chills kind of a moment. And I think that it was really full circle."
Housing Improvement Initiative currently owns four homes, including 417 A St. One home is under construction at the moment, while the other two are still waiting for construction to begin.