Louisville Sells $1 Homes To Breathe New Life Into Blighted Blocks

Louisville, KY, is taking a different approach to homeownership that it envisions as a win-win. The city is selling $1 homes in blighted communities, hoping that these future homeowners can help turn around the neighborhood.

"A lot of these old properties here, they just need love," Charles Scott, a general contractor, told WDRB. "I remember these houses when I was a kid. I had an uncle who lived around the corner, and these houses were beautiful at one time."

Scott told the local station he grew up in the area and renovates homes.

The $1 home campaign is run by Louisville's Landbank Authority. Its mission is to put vacant and abandoned properties back into use, which would improve neighborhoods and increase property values.

A property in Louisville is considered vacant or abandoned if there is an open maintenance violation on the structure or lot. The property qualifies as "vacant" if a code enforcement officer has determined it has been unoccupied for at least one year or if it has been referred to Metro for abatement action such as cleaning, mowing, boarding, or demolition.

How it works

The Landbank Authority buys, manages, and sells distressed properties to approved developers who can renovate the home to increase property values and stimulate the tax base.

The Landbank Authority says some of the advantages include merging property tax liens and other miscellaneous liens with the title and getting them to benefit subsequent buyers. 

The city encourages all developers to apply—whether they want to rehab just one property, are a small developer (with two to four completed projects and seeking two to four properties in a single application), or a large-scale developer (a business with the team, funding, and experience to develop five or more properties within 12 months).

The city says interested developers need to review the lot dimensions and zoning restrictions and must show they have the finances to finish the project.

"It's not about the dollar cost," Tia Bowman, executive administrator for the Metro Office of Community Housing and Development, told WDRB. "It's about what you're putting into this property. It's about the amenities, the features in this property. It's going to be about what you list this property for."

The city will give priority to potential buyers who live nearby, plan to live in the home, or plan to rent it out or sell it at an affordable rate.

Open house

The Landbank Authority held a series of open houses to showcase the abandoned properties that are for sale for $1.

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins hopes people will also learn about other resources available to those interested in the properties. The city has a Small Developer Loan Pool, which offers partly forgivable loans for these rehab projects.

"It's important that people invest back in their communities," Hawkins told the station. "There is some red tape for these large developers. They can't just come in and purchase these homes."