Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that aims to revive communities, kicked its mission up a notch when Wells Fargo (WFC) agreed to donate real-estate owned properties in eight U.S. cities.
Rebuilding Together will renovate the donated REOs and partner with local real estate agents to sell the homes for a profit.
“With this relationship, Wells Fargo has donated eight ‘of value’ properties to Rebuilding Together in 2012 and 3 properties in our pilot phase in 2011,” said Stephen Porter, Wells Fargo Housing Foundation’s vice president, local & national grants program manager.
Proceeds from the sales will support local Rebuilding Together affiliates, with the returns benefitting those branches that led the renovations.
The Rebuilding Together program intends to market the revamped REOs to buyers with income levels somewhere between 80% and 120% of the local area’s median income.
The participating Rebuilding Together affiliates are situated in the markets of Baltimore, Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia, Providence, St. Paul, Tampa and Washington D.C.
Rebuilding Together says the first property revamped under the program is a Philadelphia home that was eventually retooled and sold to a first-time homebuyer.
Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay also renovated and sold a Wells Fargo REO within three weeks of the donation.
Meanwhile, in the Twin Cities, the local Rebuilding Together affiliate renovated a Richfield, Minn-based home. The nonprofit’s local St. Paul affiliate plans to renovate and sell four homes during the current fiscal year.
