New Incentive May Bring Families To Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- In the city's quest to draw thousands of families to Baltimore, one incentive may do the trick: a home-buying credit could help reverse decades of population decline.
Gigi Barnett explains how it works.
Taking Baltimore's vacant homes to vibrant neighborhoods could start here. It's a housing fair hosted by Live Baltimore, a non-profit marketing group that's created the one stop shop for future city homeowners---and this weekend what's drawing many buyers is a $5,000 incentive from the city for those whose dream home is in Baltimore.
"Three bedrooms," said Tyelisha Starks. "Big backyard."
Newlyweds Tyelisha and Luther Starks fit the bill. They've been married for a month and the city beckons.
"Both of our mothers live in the city and I grew up in the city and we know that there are some good neighborhoods still in the city," Luther Starks said.
And an extra $5,000 means a real push to buy.
"It's going to help us tremendously and we hope to get any more incentives that we can get and try to take it as far as we can go with it," Tyelisha Starks said.
Right now, the city is on a 10-year push to get 10,000 families into Baltimore. In addition to the $5,000 incentive, some big businesses are offering their own.
"Employers are actually helping quite a bit. Hopkins, Under Armour and other employers, including MICA, have Live Near Your Work programs to really help their employees settle here," said Avendui Lacovara, Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate agent.
The city's $5,000 incentives are passed out through a lottery and potential homeowners who want to get their names in the drawing have to take a walking tour through some city neighborhoods to make sure it's the place they want to call home.
The city hosts four Live Baltimore housing fairs every year.
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