A recent article in the Dallas Business Journal revealed that RPL Properties, a Dallas-based real estate development company, has purchased 50 tax-delinquent home lots with the intention of developing affordable housing units on the land. RPL Properties acquired the lots in the South Oak Cliff area from the city of Dallas’ Dallas Urban Land Bank.
Although the precise terms of the deal were not disclosed, the DBJ reports that the developer plans to begin the residential development with a groundbreaking ceremony on December 2. Once completed, the development will offer affordable housing to low and moderate income families in the South Dallas area.
Paul Lewis, owner and builder for RPL Properties, says the conversion of the new homes will give families the ability to build personal wealth through home ownership, while creating tax revenue for the city. In addition to selling the lots to RPL Properties, the Dallas Urban Land Bank has set aside $10,000 for each property to assist families with down payments on home purchases, the DBJ reported.
Until the acquisition, the 50 home lots sat vacant for more than five years due to tax liens and other circumstances, RPL Properties said. According to the DBJ, the affordable housing plan is in line with Mayor Mike Rawlings’ efforts to revitalize South Dallas neighborhoods by working with real estate developers on targeted communities.
The construction plan, according to RPL Properties, involves building three- and four-bedroom brick homes ranging from 1,300 to 1,600 square feet of space. Dallas-based Hopkins Realty and Associates will market and sell the homes for prices between $99,000 and $125,000. According to real estate listing and tracking site Trulia.com, the current average listing price for Dallas homes is around $622,000. Prices in South Dallas are far lower, with Trulia’s figures reporting an average listing price of around $29,000 for the South Dallas/Fair Park area. These figures were based on 71 resale and new home listings, including 20 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. (Note that Trulia recalculates these figures weekly and so they may have changed by the time you read this).
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