In upstate New York, housing groups started a brokerage for low-income residents and neighborhoods poorly served by for-profit real estate agents. While it is a nonprofit, the brokerage is still expected to pay for itself.
As nonprofit enterprises go, this one aimed to be strongly focused on its mission. “We didn’t want it to be a glorified bake sale,†says Eric Dahl, hired as staff for the collaborative of housing groups that founded the brokerage. But the collaborative members certainly didn’t want to create a new entity that would turn around and compete with them for funding either.
The brokerage, which the collaborative named Community Realty, fit in both respects. It could be 100 percent mission, but it could also earn money as any other brokerage does, without taking money out of its clients’ pockets. Community Realty earns “cooperative broker fees†with each closing, which are a portion of the commission that the seller has agreed to pay their own agent. In the rare cases of owners who sell their homes directly without a broker, Community Realty will attempt to negotiate a buyer’s agent fee into the purchase price. The business plan calls for the brokerage to break even in five years.
Thanks to David Holtzman
FULL STORY: Creating Community Realty
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
New York’s Deadliest Neighborhoods for Pedestrians
Pedestrian deaths rose last year, but remain below pre-2020 levels.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.