GA Blog: Lynn

11.17.10 Lynn Flippers Make Bid for A&E TV show “Flip This House”

According to the Lynn Item, a Lynn firefighter and home flipper are making a bid to appear on next season’s A&E TV show “Flip This House”.  Dave “The British Bulldog” Seymour, who has successfully flipped numerous homes in Lynn and the North Shore area, recently met with the film crew to film the group in action at the house they’re currently flipping on at 12 Sagamore Street (below).

Read the entire Lynn Item article.

3.9.10 Lynn Receives $300,000 to Rehab Foreclosed Homes

According to The Daily Item, the City of Lynn will receive an additional $300,000 in federal funds to funds to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties and fill them with renters or home owners.  The funds come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Funded through the Housing Economic Recovery Act, the initiative is part of $43.4 million that was initially awarded to Massachusetts in 2009. The plan is implemented in Massachusetts by the state Department of Housing and Community Development and funds can be used by municipalities, and by for-profit and non-profit developers to purchase abandoned, vacant, or foreclosed properties at a discount and to rehabilitate or redevelop them in order to respond to rising foreclosures and falling home values.

According to state Senator Thomas McGee, “this funding will be used to rehabilitate certain foreclosed properties which will in turn help stabilize neighborhoods across Lynn.”  Lynn received $700,000 in funding last year.

Read the entire The Daily Item article.

3.8.09 SoftSecond Loans Enhanced for Foreclosed Properties in Hardest Hit Areas

The Massachusetts Housing Partnership recently announced that beginning April 1, 2009, a new enhanced version of SoftSecond can be used by qualified homebuyers looking to purchase foreclosed condominiums, single-family, two-family and three-family homes in neighborhoods hardest-hit by foreclosure. This new enhanced version waives SoftSecond’s first-time homebuyer requirement and raises the household income limit to under 120% of area median in designated census tracts in 39 communities that are eligible for federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding, including Billerica, Chelsea, Dracut, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Methuen, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Saugus and Somerville.

Grant awards will range from up to $20,000 for single-family homes and up to $40,000 for two- and three-family homes in neighborhoods that are eligible for NSP rehabilitation grants.  SoftSecond can also be used in combination with any rehabilitation financing offered by lenders.

For more information, click on this link and also this link.

3.4.09 Lynn Ward 3 Zoning Amendment

According to the Daily Item, the Lynn City Council amended zoning ordinances in Ward 3 designed to make it more business-friendly. Previously zoned "R-2," multi-family homes could be built on legal-sized lots without the consent of abutters. With the change to "R-1", only single-family residential homes can now be built, and anyone looking to construct any other residential structure (e.g. multi-family) would have to gain approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals and the City Council.

Areas affected by the zoning change begin at the Salem-Swampscott lines and run southerly along Western Avenue to Chestnut Street, easterly along Chestnut Street to Lynn Shore Drive and northerly to the Swampscott line.

Read the entire Daily Item article.

9.19.08 Lynn Councilor Seeks to Tax Foreclosure Properties

The North Shore Association of Realtors® Government Affairs Committee has learned that Lynn Ward 4 City Councilor Richard Colucci has proposed a 10% real estate tax for foreclosed properties. Under the new proposal, the added tax would be billed beginning Jan. 1, 2009, and will be on top of any other taxes authorized by general or public laws. The tax would be calculated from the value of the property at the rate of $10 for every $ 100 of the value assessed by the city Tax Assessor.

The Lynn City Council also voted in favor of instating a law through the state legislature to place a lien on foreclosure properties with outstanding fines, so that each fine would have to be paid first before the home is sold.

10.9.07 October 4, 2007 Legislative Breakfast

On October 4, 2007, NSAR hosted its second Legislative Breakfast in 2007. The event was attended by State Representative Doug Petersen (D-8th Essex), Tom Damario, Aide to Representative Robert Fennell (D-10th Essex), and Josh Harold, Aide to Representative Steven Walsh (D-11th Essex).

State Senate was in session, so unfortunately Senator Thomas M. McGee (D-3rd Essex & Middlesex) and Senator Richard R. Tisei (R-Middlesex & Essex) were unable to attend.

MAR Associate Counsel Margy Grant presented the Realtor® position on the following topics:

1. New proposed Transfer Taxes (S. 1776; S. 1773; H. 3959)
2. New proposed Lead Paint law (SB. 1230)
3. New proposed mandatory Seller’s disclosure in connection with environmental issues (H. 323, S. 201)
4. New proposed mandatory disclosures for real estate licensees in connection with Wetlands (H. 767)
5. Smart Growth funding for Chapter 40R (S. 132, H. 160)

NSAR and the Government Affairs Committee extends a sincere appreciate to the legislators who participated and to all those that attended.