Lima discusses new listings with Realtors

LIMA — Realtor Heather Gaus said Tuesday’s Realtors open house shared great ideas to advance home ownership in the Lima community.

The Lima Community Improvement Corporation held the open house to share information on 24 new homes the city is planning to build and sell in the next two years with local Realtors such as Gaus.

“I did not know they were doing this, but there is a lot of value,” Gaus, with Cowan Realtors, said. “There is definitely a need.”

CIC executive director Marcie Barlow said she heard a lot of good questions from the group and was excited to start working with them.

“They’re all on board and we need to do this to make the community prosper,” she said. “They want to work with us and we need to work with them and we both understand that we’ve all got to work together to make the city better. There is a problem in that we don’t have enough housing stock and the mayor and the Realtors both see it so we’re trying to go down several avenues to alleviate that as best we can.”

Mayor Sharetta Smith found similar value in the meeting.

“I’m excited that we were able to have the opportunity to talk with Realtors about their interest,” she said. “They had some interesting ideas and questions and we’re just looking forward to building a positive relationship.”

The group discussed multiple items including the $720,000 in Welcome Home Ohio funding (bit.ly/3wWqwUx) the city is using to fund construction and rehab for the homes and properties it owns.

“There are a lot of people who want to get into houses, but there aren’t a lot of houses that work for them, whether they qualify financially or not,” Cowan Realtor Emily Park said. “I think this provides that value so it matches people in homes that fit with their finances.”

Barlow said the plans can help more than just low to moderate-income homebuyers, as well, offering a potential example of a three-bedroom house hitting the market when its elderly owners downsize to a smaller dwelling that may cost less.

“Some of the homes we have might be perfect for a single mom with one child,” she said. “At the same time, if that gets a three or four-bedroom property goes on the market, a family with a mom, dad and couple of kids could move in there.”

Increasing Lima’s housing stock also could help the economy grow.

“You’ve got vacant parcels now that you’re getting nothing because the city owns them,” Barlow said. “But if you’re putting people there, they have to go to school somewhere, they have to work somewhere and they have to buy groceries. Not everybody is going to make $150,000 a year, but we need everyone, from someone making minimum wage to someone who is a professional to everything in between.”

For more information on the state’s Welcome Home Ohio program, visit bit.ly/3Y9O5nZ.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.