Thomas X. Lycos, President of the Collier Building Industry Association shared his thoughts recently concerning madatory home inspections, and was featured in the May 26th 'Perspective' secion of the Naples Daily News.  The mandatory inspection of foreclosed and/or abandoned homes prior to sale is an issue that is developing strong opposition.

"As a licensed contractor whose new construction and remodeling projects are always permitted and inspected, I believe strongly in these mandatory inspections as they serve to protect homeowners, home buyers and renters who do not have the expertise to determine if the building in question is habitable or code compliant. These inspections would also protect buyers or renters who may be one or two transactions removed from the initial purchase of the foreclosed property." [More]

By Tami Osborne, WINK News

Story Updated: May 25, 2009 at 10:49 PM EDT 

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - Selling a vacant or foreclosed home in Collier County could soon get more difficult. On Tuesday, Collier County Commissioners are looking at requiring mandatory code inspections of all vacant and foreclosed homes before they can be sold.

This discussion comes after years of home buyers unsuspectingly running into major code violations after they've bought a house.
  [More]

Collier County - County staff will seek direction, May 26, on how to proceed with drafting an ordinance that would require a code inspection prior to a home resale.

The proposed Certificate of Use program will be presented in two formats – mandatory for foreclosures or voluntary for all homes.  

 According to John Barlow, founder of Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone, code inspections should be mandatory, but only for foreclosure sales.

“It would be unwise to tack this 800-pound gorilla onto every house that goes to sale,” he says, noting the number of foreclosures coming online each month is exceeding the number of new homes coming online at the height of the real estate boom in 2005. “No one wants government in their life any more than necessary. But, we have to react to the volume of inventory swamping our real estate market and we have to protect homebuyers.” [More]

The rising tide of foreclosures has pushed down home prices significantly over the past 18 months. Homes, relative to income, are about at the historic norm, which means they're more affordable than they've been in at least a decade. 

Beyond that, if you buy a foreclosed property, you might wind up with spending even less, as lenders struggle to process all of the foreclosures and short sales that are piling up. (To give you some idea of just how many foreclosures abound in some markets, if there were no more foreclosures in Florida, it would take the courts nearly two years to process all of the foreclosures on the docket today.)  [More]

NAPLES - Here is the good news during all the bad news of our economy. Thanks to the vision and flexibility of Collier County and the generosity of local businesses — too many to mention, see www.homenaples.org — Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone (H.O.M.E.) Inc. will realize its first year goal to purchase and renovate 13 homes for sale to first-time home buyers who make a difference to our community.

As of this date, H.O.M.E. Inc. has three certificates of occupancy and nine formerly foreclosed houses are in various stages of rehabilitation in Golden Gate City, Golden Gate Estates and Avalon in East Naples. [More]

By Carrie Wise March 31, 2009 A local non-profit is beginning to see the benefits of its plan to fix up foreclosures. Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone, or H.O.M.E, buys foreclosed properties and renovates them to sell as affordable housing for income-qualified families. To date, H.O.M.E has been restoring 13 properties. Two of the homes have sold, and owners are moving in, according to its founder, John Barlow. See some of the renovation work and learn more in this Studio 55 video. [More]

The inaugural Sod Day was held Friday, March 27th, at H.O.M.E.'s second completed project, located at 2082 41st Terrace SW. 

Landscaping professionals lent their expertise in guiding the volunteers through the sod laying process.  The result, a fully sodded yard, awaiting the family who will soon enjoy their new home!

[More]

NAPLES — One man has a plan for turning hundreds of foreclosed Collier County homes into affordable housing, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy, staving off blight and giving worthy applicants a chance to become homeowners.

“A window of opportunity exists right here in Collier County like never before,” said John Barlow, who founded the nonprofit organization Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone, or H.O.M.E., in May when he saw the foreclosure crisis snowball through the community. [More]

Volunteer and join us for our first Sod Day!  H.O.M.E. needs your help to lay the sod that puts the finishing touch on an attractive home for important contributors to the community...teachers, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, workers, etc.! 

Have fun and make a difference laying sod under the direction of landscaping professionals.  Bring your energy and enthusiasm, and we'll supply the snacks and beverages! [More]

I want to welcome Gina Downs, our newest board member at H.O.M.E., and introduce her to you. You may have read about Gina’s work as director of the Citizens Transportation Coalition. I’ve also watched her on the Collier County Productivity Committee and been impressed with her enthusiasm and tenacity when it comes to accomplishing a goal. She doesn’t stop until success is achieved.

Gina brings us a lifetime of experience – teaching economics, running her own company, and actually swinging a hammer as a carpenter’s helper for ten summers in her friend’s remodeling business. As you can see, she’s a roll-up-your-sleeves person, exactly what H.O.M.E. needs.

As you know, H.O.M.E. has no employees. Our unpaid board members do all the work to organize and manage finding, financing, and rehabilitating our homes. People like Gina make that possible.
Gina and her husband moved to Naples full time three years ago after several years as part-time residents. Like our other board members, she finds that spending her time working to improve the quality of life in Collier County brings a richness to her life that she missed living the “resort lifestyle,” sitting by the pool and playing golf. You can usually find her lobbying our elected officials and speaking to groups throughout South Florida about making our roads and intersections safer and toll-free. And now, you’ll find her helping us make homes available to deserving families.

H.O.M.E. needs the energy and talents of folks like Gina Downs. We’re delighted to welcome her to our board.
 

 Photo: (Naples Florida Weekly) Dennis and Vannessia Harvey, front, with Lisa Carr and John Barlow

Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone has put out the welcome matt for its first H.O.M.E. Dennis and Vannessia Harvey and their teenage son have settled in to the Golden Gate house that was in foreclosure and sorely neglected until H.O.M.E. purchased and refurbished it for resale to qualified buyers like the Harveys.

    John Barlow, the businessman whose commitment to providing affordable housing by rehabilitating foreclosed singlefamily homes inspired the development of H.O.M.E., Inc., predicts that by summer, 12 more houses will be ready for sale to people working in service industries in Collier County.

      "We have competed the purchase of three additional foreclosed houses, and work should begin on renovations later this month," Mr. Barlow said, adding all three homes are in Golden Gate. "We're anxious to get started so we can get them ready for their new owners."

      Candidates for potential H.O.M.E. ownership include teachers, nurses, firemen, police, and skilled government, construction and service workers — in essence, people whose skills and services improve the quality of life for everyone in Collier County. "We want people like the Harveys to know about the opportunities coming for them," Mr. Barlow said.

     Both of the Harveys have lived in Southwest Florida for about 30 years. Mrs. Harvey attended grammar school and high school in Naples and graduated from the nursing program at Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology. She works as a medical assistant for Specialists in Urology. Mr. Harvey works full-time as a barber and part time at McDonalds. Their son, a sophomore at Naples High School, has already earned a scholarship for college.

Read the full article at Florida Weekly January 8, 2009

It’s like television’s “Extreme Makeover," except in reverse.

Instead of finding families in need and improving their homes, the founders of Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone locates homes in need and improve them for find eligible families.

“I’m tickled to death with what we’ve done," says John Barlow, founder of HOME, Inc. “Go look at it and see if you don’t get excited. Some family is going to love it."

Located in Golden Gate Citiy, the former ramshackle house shines like a mini version of Extreme Makeover, thanks to the efforts of HOME, local retailers, contractors, county government, bank representatives, good Samaritans and an army of volunteers.

Through the combined efforts of these groups, a qualified, first-time homebuyer will now be able to acquire the house for a mortgage of around $125,000.

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