Andre Wright and Kena Douglas were intrigued with the new-looking bungalow on High Ridge Road in an old-fashioned, nearly rural neighborhood just east of Interstate 95 in North Laurel. They had been hoping to find a place to buy in Columbia, where Wright works and Douglas goes to school, but she was enamored of the all-new "green" features in the completely renovated home rescued from abandonment and foreclosure by the Howard County Housing Commission.
"That appeals to me," said Douglas, 49. Wright, 51, added that winter heating-oil bills in homes with conventional systems can run hundreds of dollars a month. That compares to the negligible cost of the new underground geothermal heating and cooling system in the one-level, three-bedroom, two-bath High Ridge house, which the commission is selling for $240,000, plus help with the down payment and closing costs. The couple live in a rented house in Clarksville now with Wright's handicapped 17-year-old son.
Still, they weren't sure about the North Laurel area, and Wright said his son would need wheelchair access. They'd have to think about it, they said.
Neighbors Alice Ellis, 59, a 30-year resident across the road, and Lisa Tanner, 27, who just moved from Tempe, Ariz., to the house next door with her husband and two small children, said they're delighted with what the county has done with the place.
"I thought they did a great job," Ellis said, "I'm glad they fixed it up."
Tanner said she's excited, too. "Before, it didn't look very nice."
The detached house and a townhouse nearby are the first two Howard County homes rescued from foreclosure using $750,000 in federal money the county received last year. Howard officials are using the funds to buy poorly maintained homes, renovate them with energy-saving features and then sell them under the county's Moderate Income Housing Unit program. The proceeds then go to buy and renovate more homes until authorization runs out in 2013.
Deputy county housing director Thomas Carbo said officials search banks' lists of foreclosures in North Laurel and the 21045 ZIP code of east Columbia, where the problem is greatest.
People with incomes from $57,422 for one person to $108,282 for families of eight or more can qualify to buy the first two units, both in North Laurel. Monday is the deadline for applications, and a drawing will be held Tuesday, Aug. 31, for the detached home at 10163 High Ridge Road, and Wednesday, Sept. 1, for the townhouse at 9110 H Tumbleweed Run. Proceeds from the sales will be used to rehab two more foreclosed homes the Housing Commission has purchased. They are both townhouses, one in North Laurel and the other in Owen Brown.
Private foreclosure figures from Core Logic, a firm that tracks data, showed Howard County in June with a 1.5 percent overall foreclosure rate, up from 1.3 percent in June 2009. Howard's rate is near the lowest in Maryland, which is 1.3 percent in Garrett County. It is far below Baltimore City's 4 percent or Prince George's County's 4.9 percent rates.
The detached home on High Ridge Road had been vacant for more than a year and was a neighborhood eyesore, said Carbo. In addition to gutting the interior down to the rafters and replacing the front porch, the county added a master bedroom, with bath and laundry room, to expand the bungalow to 1,060 square feet. Renovations cost $100,000, officials said.
Kelly Cimino, the housing official monitoring the work, said the home was purchased for $177,500 and will sell for $240,000. Mortgage payments will be about $1,700 including taxes and insurance, but utility bills should be very low because of the geothermal heating and cooling, more insulation in the walls, new siding, appliances, lighting fixtures and environmentally friendly materials and plumbing. For example, water that goes down the sink drain is recycled to the toilets, and rain barrels outside capture water for gardening.
The hardwood floors were refinished and energy-efficient windows were installed, along with extra attic insulation.
The Tumbleweed Run townhouse was bought for $151,000 and, after $47,000 in renovations, will sell for $165,000. It features a new kitchen with new Energy Star appliances, new carpeting, a finished basement, a new heating and cooling system, added insulation and low-flow plumbing fixtures. Payments there would be about $1,135 a month, plus a $175 a month condo fee.
"I think it's very valuable," Carbo said. "It's one small piece to a larger puzzle," and helps neighborhoods fight blight.
Officials estimate that about 20 homes can be repaired and resold before the program ends.
larry.carson@baltsun.com