Posts Tagged ‘NPR’
NPR on Nehemiah
NPR’s Jim Zarroli had me back on this morning to discuss the Nehemiah Homes – the affordable homeownership program based in New York City that has seen remarkably few foreclosures in its roughly two-decade history, even though many those homes are located in the heart of the city’s foreclosure belt. The segment explains why: low costs, and tough standards for buyers. I was intrigued to learn just how tough: mortgage payments could be no more than 20 percent of household income, far below the usual standard . By contrast, the Making Home Affordable loan modification program sets 31 percent of income as a goal.
How the homes we live in turned into the monsters that ate our economy and the United States became a nation obsessed with real estate.