Last week, I got an email from a real estate agency about “an unusual closing.” I was intrigued.
A first-time homebuyer had purchased a South Philly rowhouse. Not that unusual. But she’d done it for less than $50 out of pocket. Say what?
That’s the cost of a couple’s Friday night takeout order. But she bought a house.
Her real estate agent and mortgage broker strategized to keep her costs low, but even they were surprised at the final figure. Here’s how it happened.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
— Michaelle Bond
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Teresa Nutter didn’t think she could afford to buy a home, so she never really let herself imagine it.
But her rent kept going up and became unaffordable.
Her real estate agent, a friend who knew her situation, strategized with a mortgage broker to make home ownership happen for Nutter, who had been homeless for years in her 20s.
She paid less than $50 to close on her house last month thanks to help from the seller, the type of mortgage she got, and a city grant.
First-time homebuyers can get assistance from all sorts of places: government agencies, mortgage lenders, nonprofits. But since funds are limited, these programs can come and go.
The city grant program Nutter used closed in 2020 because it ran out of money, but the city was able to bring it back in 2022.
In 2023, I wrote about a new Philadelphia pilot program through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency that offered first-time homebuyers help paying their student loans, grants of up to $25,000, and forgivable loans.
In 2024, I told the story of a couple in the program who paid about $1,000 out of pocket to close on their home.
Later that year, the pilot program used up its funding and ended.
But Nutter’s mortgage broker told me “there’s a plethora of programs out there.”
Keep reading for the details of how he and Nutter’s real estate agent pulled off a $50 closing.
Philly has a longstanding problem with thieves who forge deeds to steal people’s homes.
A common tactic is to target properties with dead people on the deeds. I’ve written about how thousands of Philadelphians live in homes with this kind of muddled ownership, also known as a tangled title, and the many problems this can cause.
Thieves especially like to go after vacant properties, since it’s harder to steal a home someone’s living in. In a recent case, a repeat house thief posed as a a dead owner’s grandson and submitted a deed with a forged signature.
Philly has never had an easy way to check whether a seller was alive, which would go a long way in helping prevent these thefts.
But now, when someone who’s attempting to sell a home in Philadelphia submits a deed for the city to record, the city’s new automated system will use government databases to check whether the seller was dead at the time the deed was signed. If records show the seller was dead, the city will reject the deed.
Several city agencies have been working for years to develop this system. It turns out it’s more complicated than it seems.
Keep reading to learn more about the city’s deed-theft problem and this latest solution.
The latest news to pay attention to
Thousands of Philly homeowners aren’t taking advantage of city programs designed to help them pay real estate taxes. A lot of people don’t know about the tax breaks.
But you’re a real estate newsletter reader. So I’m sure you’re not one of them.
Just in case, my colleagues created a useful tool that lets you type in your home address and some basic info about your household to find out which property tax relief programs you may be eligible for.
Tell your friends and family.
Caroline Patten’s roughly 3,500-square-foot Tudor Revival style house in East Falls offers enough room for her blended family. Between Patten and partner Trevor Naidoo, they have six children who range in age from 12 to 29.
One of the most well-used spaces in the home is the kitchen, which was completely renovated in 2023. The fridge and shelves are hidden behind white paneling. A green tiled backsplash helps bring color into the space.
Throughout the house, most of the color comes from artwork, including pieces by Patten’s family members. A local street artist painted her 12-year-old son’s name in red on his bedroom wall.
Outside, the family spends a lot of time on the backyard patio they built soon after moving in.
Peek inside the family’s home and find out what amenity is shared with neighbors to create a “mini neighborhood.”
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Shout-out to Ronald L. and Josh M. for being two of the first readers to correctly answer last week’s quiz. That photo featured the University Avenue Bridge/34th Street Bridge.
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Do you remember the home tour from last week? It was a house in South Philly that the owners rebuilt.
My colleague Erin Reynolds made a video walking through the home with owner Madhurika Jeremiah, who shares details that didn’t make it into the written story.
For more home tour videos, check out The Inquirer’s Instagram account or Erin’s author page on our website.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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