Navigating Housing Challenges in Detroit

Exploring the speaker's personal journey in addressing housing issues in Detroit, from buying a house for $7,000 in a depopulated neighborhood to navigating tax foreclosure challenges. The conversation delves into housing subsidies, focusing on Section 8 vouchers and the role of federal home loan banks as government-sponsored enterprises, providing insights on their significant annual subsidy and lending functions.

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America is in need of affordable housing; we’re all aware. Buying your first home has become increasingly challenging for everyday people. This is where housing subsidies come in. Federal housing subsidies were created over ninety years ago to help Americans get into the housing market and strengthen the economy, but in 2024, much of that money may not be headed to homebuyers—it could be going to banks instead.

On today’s show, we talk to Sharon Cornelissen, Ph.D., Director of Housing at the Consumer Federation of America. Sharon’s mission is to advocate for safe, affordable housing with equitable mortgage lending for American consumers. In this episode, Sharon illuminates the shocking fact that most Americans are completely unaware of—billions in housing subsidies AREN’T being used for housing. So, if they’re not going to homebuyers, where are all the subsidies headed?

Sharon discusses the banks that could be receiving a significant amount of these subsidies without providing any benefits for homebuyers, how the Coalition for Federal Home Loan Bank Reform is trying to change this, and how, if they succeed, affordable housing could see a MASSIVE influx in subsidies, that could help the housing market tremendously.

In This Episode We Cover:

Where the $7.3 billion in housing subsidies is actually going

The Federal Home Loan Bank system and why it’s in dire need of reform

How the mortgage market changed over the past century and why we’re seeing these problems

How over $1 billion could be directed straight towards affordable housing

How Sharon picked up a $7,000 house in one of the most devastated real estate markets

And So Much More!

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