Author: Gabriella Chiarenza
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Built to fail? Contracts for deeds often sell a homeownership illusion
Contract for deed homeownership agreements can appeal to lower-priced homebuyers who believe they are unable to qualify for or secure a mortgage. But CFDs often lack consumer protections and can cost unsuspecting buyers their home and their investment in it.
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Manufacturing affordable homeownership, one unit at a time
Manufactured housing offers a uniquely affordable homeownership onramp at a time when aspiring buyers can’t afford pricier site-built homes. Even with perception and financing challenges to surmount, some are finding creative ways to extend this homeownership option to more buyers.
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National Disability Institute and city partners push for an inclusive economy accessible to all
People with disabilities are more likely to be unbanked and underemployed. The National Disability Institute has a plan and the right partners—including the Cleveland Fed—to change this pattern and make the economy more accessible for everyone.
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Why are Native homebuyers ending up with more expensive loans?
Financing manufactured homes can cost Native borrowers on reservations twice as much as off-reservation white borrowers. A risky type of loan fuels the cost gap.
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Investing from within: Native CDFIs help their people find home
Native CDFIs use creative approaches to help their neighbors navigate homeownership in Indian Country, making notable progress even at their smaller scale. But they can’t do it alone. Learn how other lenders can join NCDFIs to connect Native homebuyers with the loans they seek.
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Losing the family home, with ripples down the bloodline
Heirs’ property situations can strain family relationships and put billions of dollars of wealth at stake. Read one woman’s story and learn how she’s now working to help others preserve their family ties, homes, and financial stability.
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Numbers aren’t the whole story: Why community partnership matters
Numbers can only tell you so much. To truly understand how people experience the economy, you have to reach out and start a conversation with them. A partnership between the Fed and the Urban Institute shows how community-engaged research approaches are catching on for good in major institutions.
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Is the racial wealth gap closing as more people of color buy homes?
Homeownership is still a major way average families build wealth, and recent data show racial and ethnic homeownership gaps began to lessen slightly during the pandemic. Does this mean the racial wealth divide will shrink?
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Using data and community conversation to support small businesses across New Jersey
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Philadelphia Fed teamed up to explore equitable post-pandemic recovery and credit access for the state’s small businesses using data from the Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey.
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The benefits cliff, explained
A benefits cliff can make a family feel like their hard work really isn’t paying off or helping them get ahead. Why is the benefits cliff issue so hard to address? And what are some communities doing to tackle it?