Dozens of Detroit public housing tenants are getting a once-in-a-lifetime shot at homeownership as the Detroit Housing Commission prepares to sell its full portfolio of 195 single-family homes. The agency is giving current residents priority to buy the houses, according to the commission, and the program is expected to be announced Wednesday.
The announcement is also set to include a $1.2 million commitment from the Rocket Community Fund to support the first 10 home purchases. The money will be used for down payment assistance and up to $60,000 in repair work for buyers.
“Our overall mission is to help families achieve stable homeownership that can lead to a more prosperous life,” said Beth Sorce, Rocket Community Fund’s senior director of housing stability. She added, “Our investment with DHC is really about helping Detroit families achieve that dream of homeownership.”
Detroit Housing Commission Director Arthur Jemison said the program benefits both residents and the commission. He said it gives tenants a chance to buy homes at a discount and start building generational wealth, and that the sales will also bring in cash to fund repairs and other work across the commission’s portfolio.
Jemison said the program is expected to reduce pressure on operating costs, and he said, “The capital we make from the sales is going right back into our capital programs.” Many homes in the portfolio have fallen into disrepair and, historically, received low inspection scores, the report said.
Buyers will need to qualify for mortgages. Jemison said tenants who need to improve their credit scores will be enrolled into a Detroit Housing Commission-run financial stability program and given time to qualify, while acknowledging that not every tenant who wants to buy a home will likely meet mortgage requirements even with assistance.
Laurise Barber said she wants to buy her home from the DHC and views the opportunity as the only realistic path to financial independence for her and her children. “We would be able to have something of our own, and we can build a better future around it,” Barber said. “Because now your home is stable.”
Barber said her credit score is in the 400s, which she said is not nearly high enough for a mortgage. “I would be devastated,” she said, “if she couldn’t qualify.”
How the program will work
Jemison said about 150 of the DHC’s single-family homes are occupied, and those tenants will receive the first chance to buy them. In addition to mortgage qualification, tenants will need to put down at least 1% of the purchase price—for example, $1,000 for a $100,000 home.
Buyers will receive a grant covering 20% of the sale price for the down payment, plus a dollar-for-dollar match on any additional money they put down, up to $15,000. The report said the DHC will conduct inspections over the coming months to determine needed repairs and set purchase prices, and that Tyler Hardy, the DHC real estate development director, said the average sale price will be around $82,000.
In April, the commission plans to announce which residents are immediately eligible and which residents will be placed on a waitlist. It hopes to close on the first 10 sales this spring, and Sorce said Rocket Community Fund may contribute additional funds to support purchases over the next two years.
The commission said it will make homes it does not sell to the first group of tenants available to others enrolled in its financial stability program. If homes remain available, the DHC will open sales to other buyers who make up to 80% of the area median income, which the report said is $56,600 for an individual.
For tenants who cannot purchase, the DHC said it will assist them by providing a Section 8 voucher or public housing placement. The Detroit Land Bank Authority is also providing technical support for the purchase program and helping sell unoccupied homes.
Tenants who fear they may not qualify
Barber said when she first moved into public housing, she hoped the reduced rent would help her save money and go back to school. She said in the first DHC unit she lived in, she fell through a hole in her bathroom, injuring her and making employment harder to find.
She then moved into a DHC-owned house in 2023, and she said it had multiple problems, including a faulty electrical system and a leak in her kitchen ceiling. Barber said she submitted work orders over the years but that nothing was ever fixed.
Barber said she has been unable to find steady work and that the DHC told her she isn’t allowed to do in-home child care. She said she makes money through odd jobs, including driving for Uber, and that she applied for the DHC financial stability program when she moved in but the commission never followed up.
Now, she said she is worried she will lose out on the opportunity to become a homeowner. “Every day, a tear falls,” Barber said. “Where am I going to go? What am I going to do?”