RDOs are serving as important players and coordinators in creating better access to housing throughout their regions. From conducting research and tracking trends to assembling financing to assisting with project development, RDOs and their partners can be there from the initial planning discussions through the day a new resident moves in. During this session at the 2020 NADO Annual Training Conference, attendees heard examples from two RDOs about what they are doing to support housing opportunities in their regions, as well as an update from a national partner about what rural and small-town housing initiatives are underway across the country.

1. -Northwest Michigan Housing
Challenges
Matt McCauley, CEO

2. Geography

3. Elevator Speech
• Networks Northwest is a 10-County agency serving Northwest Lower
Michigan.
• We administer a variety of programs that are often seen as separate
entities in other parts of the state and nation.
• $9.5M/year, 85 FTE’s
• Public agency, but operates more like a non-profit. (grant driven with zero
taxing or policy authority)
• Talent, business, and community connect northwest Michigan. We help.

4. Housing- Know Your Region
Networks Northwest Housing
Resources:
networksnorthwest.org/housing

5. Housing- Know Your Region

6. Housing- Know Your Region

7. Housing- Know Your Region

8. 2020 Target Market Analysis- Total Home Value

9. SHORT TERM RENTALS

10. Short-term rental definition
The commercial use of
renting a dwelling unit
for a period of time less
than thirty consecutive
calendar days.

11. Short-term rentals are everywhere
•They are everywhere
•They are not new
•They are not a trend
•They are not going away
•$100 billion global market
•$78 million in Michigan (2018)

12. Business model has changed
• Sharing economy has changed how transactions occur
– No longer have to know someone who knows someone who has a cottage…
– Within seconds hosts and vacationers find each other
• The past consisted of scattered rentals along a lakeshore
• Reality is that they are everywhere
– Inland neighborhoods and
out in the rural regions
– In tents, trailers, boats, etc.

13. A growing industry
• In Michigan the number of
short-term rental listings has
grown 233% in just two years!
• 84% of the listings are for the
entire home

14. Our region
Six of the 10 counties in this region are in
the top 20 counties with the most listings:
• Leelanau #2
• Charlevoix #4
• Grand Traverse #8
• Emmet #11
• Antrim #13
• Benzie #16

15. A growing industry
• In 2018, Investors
purchased 11% of the
US homes sold
• That level of investment
is almost twice the
pre-recession
investment levels

16. To regulate or not…
• Know why you are choosing to regulate
• Impacts on neighborhood/community
• Noise, parking, other nuisances
• Preserve year-round housing
• Understand the marketplace
• Enforcement considerations

17. Comments - Pro and Con
Against
• Hotel next door
• ↓ Property values
• Noise / late hours
• Trespassing
• Community character
• ↓ Housing availability
• Safety concerns
• Unfair competition
For
• They’ve always been here
• Market will take care of it
• Core property right
• ↑ Property values
• Protect my investment
• Plan to retire here
• Economy depends on it
• ↑ Tax revenue

18. Questions
Matt McCauley
CEO, Networks Northwest
mccauley@networksnorthwest.org
networksnorthwest.org/community

19. SUMMIT RIDGE APARTMENTS
October 2020

21. Region XII COG Service Territory

22. Housing Programs History
 First project: 1991 USDA Housing Preservation Grant
Established priority to build RLFs
 HOME, CDBG, USDA, FHLB
 HIRE (earmark), LHAP (political windfall)
 Local Housing Trust Fund

23. Development History
As a Facilitator/Financer/Administrator
 RLF for acquisition/demolition (various cities)
 Subdivision loan (Arcadia)
 Developer loans (various)
 Neighborhood Stabilization Program (various cities)
 LIHTC Loan (Denison)
 Second story projects (various developers)

24. Development History
As a Developer
 DMACC Building Trades (COG)
Built five homes
 Denison Schools Building Trades (COG)
Built one home
 Denison Spec Houses (COGH Inc)
Built two homes

25. Leaping off Summit Ridge
 Diversification/sustainability discussion
internally about building and owning
“something”
 Concern of losing money/creating an albatross
 Nervous about being a landlord
 Where to invest?
 Found our nerve…. We think…

26. Project Location – Wall Lake, 2017

27. How We Got to “Yes”
 Free land
 City cooperation
 Location of the land
 Partnership with Twilight Acres
 Seniors are easiest/entry drug for rental

28. Indicators for our “Yes” - Location
Grocery Store and
Bank
City Hall/Community
Center/Congregate
Meal Site and Post
Office
Restaurant, Bar,
Variety Store,
Hardware Store, and
Medical Clinic

29. Piecing Together Funding
FHLB (grant)
HOME (0% loan)
Tax credits (state)
Housing trust fund (grant)
Equity
Tax Abatement (code)

30. Other Factors
 Drilling down in the pro-forma
 Rents collected
 Client incomes
 Vacancy rate
 Anticipating all costs
 Property taxes
 Clearing the lot
 Sweating out the bid process
 Investing here versus another town
 Risk & the board
 Maintenance
 Section 8

31. Groundbreaking – September 2018

32. Duplex Unit Construction

33. Duplex Unit - Complete

34. Triplex Unit Complete – April 2020

35. Lessons Learned
 Plan to carry the project financially (grants lag)
 Plan to spend money in places you didn’t
anticipate (old foundations, utility issues, items
missed in the plans, etc.)
 Maintain close conversations with funders (they
want to help make the project successful)
 Old ladies don’t like spiders
 Good PR and excitement doesn’t always equal
renters
 These projects are not money-makers but a
good service.

36. What’s Coming Up in Development?
1. Jefferson Single-
Family
2. Glidden Duplexes
3. Homes for Iowa
4. ???

37. Questions?
Region XII COG
1009 East Anthony Street
PO Box 768
Carroll, IA 51401
712-792-9914
rhunsaker@region12cog.org
www.region12cog.org

38. NeighborWorks.org
2020 NADO ATC – 10/20/20
Sarah Kackar, AICP
Director, Rural Initiative –
NeighborWorks America
A Place to Call
Home: How
RDOs and Other
Partners Assist
Rural Housing

39. NeighborWorks.org
Agenda
• Introduction
• Who is NeighborWorks?
• How Do We Engage and Support
Rural Housing and Communities?
• Rural Housing Best Practices
• Resources and Opportunities

40. NeighborWorks.org
NeighborWorks Mission
NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for
people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives
and strengthen their communities.
We offer programs and support to help community-
serving organizations maintain healthy operations,
measure the reach of their efforts, expand their
programs to meet community needs, and move toward
long-term stability and growth. We build skills,
supplement resources and amplify the reach of
organizations so they can empower more individuals
and transform more communities.

41. NeighborWorks.org
NeighborWorks Network
At the foundation of the
NeighborWorks mission
are more than 240 strong,
healthy and prepared
NeighborWorks network
organizations in every
state, the District of
Columbia and Puerto
Rico.

42. NeighborWorks.org
Sample of NeighborWorks Activities
Lending
Through CDFIs
Homebuyer
Assistance and
Counseling
Rental Eviction
Prevention
Housing
Rehabilitation
and
Replacement
Affordable
Housing
Development
Small Business
and Commercial
Microlending
Community
Development
Partnerships
Organizational
Resiliency
Professional
Training
Community
Building and
Engagement

43. NeighborWorks.org
NeighborWorks Impact
• Grants - FY19, $91 million in grant funding
was distributed from our annual core
appropriation.
• Community Impact - FY19, more than $9.65
billion of investment in communities.
• Technical Assistance – grants, capacity-
building, peer exchange
• Training and Leadership Development –
FY19, awarded over 14,000 training
certificates
• Organizational Assessment – Data-driven
methodologies and evaluations

44. NeighborWorks.org
• 116 member NeighborWorks
organizations work
predominantly in the rural
space
• Origins: Informal rural
organization cohorts since
1980s; formalized into
Initiative in 2000.
• Funded grants, studies,
toolkits, and peer exchange
programs include topics such
as rural capital, manufactured
housing, broadband access,
healthy communities, and civic
Rural Initiative

45. NeighborWorks.org
Engage and Support
Rural Communities
NeighborWorks Organization Snapshot

46. NeighborWorks.org
HOPE Enterprise Corp
Mississippi
• The HOPE Community Partnership
provides strategic and focused
community and economic development
training and technical assistance for
communities.
• The ultimate goals are to advance key
economic development projects, attract
private and public resources, expand
economic opportunity, and build the
financial capability of the communities
and their residents.

47. NeighborWorks.org
• Home Construction and
Repair
• Homeownership Education
and Down Payment
Assistance
• Rental Community
Construction
• Small Business and
Individual Lending
• Sustainable Energy
Solutions
• Emergency Services
Self-Help Enterprises
California

48. NeighborWorks.org
NeighborWorks Montana
A multi-faceted organization
providing:
• Homeownership
Counseling
• Real Estate
Development Lending
• Homeownership
Lending
• Resident Owned
Community (ROC)
support for
Manufactured Housing

49. NeighborWorks.org
Resources and
Partnerships
• Network Directory
• https://www.neighborworks.org/Our-
ur-Network/Network-Directory
• Training Services
• https://www.neighborworks.org/Traini
aining-Services
• Success Measures
• https://www.neighborworks.org/Comm
mmunity/Outcome-Measurement
• National Housing Intermediary Partners
• Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
• Enterprise
• Rural LISC

50. NeighborWorks.org
Contact: Sarah Kackar – skackar@nw.org