Ben Hart of Hart Homes, LLC: "It's My House but It's Their Home"

“Housing instability has no definition. We need language to help solve this problem.” Ben Hart is a realtor and entrepreneur who grew up in Rochester’s 19th Ward. He is a house re-developer who takes vacant and distressed homes and revitalizes them for occupancy. Rochester has a housing crisis at all levels and Ben’s goal is to work with those who find it difficult to find housing due to financial constraints or income requirements for rental properties. He encourages long-term leasing with stable pricing. Ben offers the renter the opportunity to become financially stable to buy the house they want (or are currently renting) or to simply continue to rent. Ben wants to work on the problems of urban Rochester. He believes there’s not enough concentrated redevelopment going on in downtown Rochester which is why there has been perpetually blighted neighborhoods for decades. Some neighborhoods have overcome their issues, but Ben is looking to create a more vibrant and permanent communities Downtown. *Hart Homes is a for-profit company, but it has a social mission.* He cares about the community, he would like to see more landlords think in terms of being business owners when it comes to philanthropy and investment in the community. Homeowners engage in more civic events, they vote more, they volunteer more. More owner-occupants are needed. In the suburbs the ratio of owners to renters is about 70% to 30% but in the city, the ratio is nearly reversed. There should be incentives for long-term residential renting, similar to what is done with commercial real estate. This would encourage stability.  Ben emphasizes it’s not just home ownership that’s the pinnacle – it’s the *sense* of home – you know that you’re safe, your lease is enforceable, you’re not going to be removed due to the whims of someone else, or that the owner isn’t going to sell the property out from under you. Having a *sense* of home, even if you don’t own it, you know that you can renew your lease, you know you are working toward home ownership, and that you have an easy relationship with your landlord, that’s the pinnacle. Attainable housing vs. affordable housing – those are not the same. It the job of Hart Homes to take the house no one wants and create a house that is livable and rent it or sell it – to take something no one wanted, add value, and create a homeowner. Ben Hart is more interested in you being a homeowner than you being his tenant.  He will not do rent-to-own. He will refer you to another realtor to avoid conflict. The Housing Bill There are various ways to address the housing crisis in Rochester – it’s not a one-solution crisis. There is **Buy the Block (GRHP)**, purchasing Tiny Homes or Manufactured Homes, making loans accessible to Micro-Producers like Hart Homes. It’s easy to criticize any one of these but we must be open-minded about how we’re going to solve this housing crisis problem.  “If you **listen and you build what they ask for**, they will come.” – Ben Hart Positive Only Rent Reporting Initiative – the landlord reports on-time rent payments to credit agencies. It helps tenants who are “credit invisible” build credit. Financial Empowerment Center does 1-1 financial coaching in Rochester. *“Slow Growth is Good Growth, scale the solution, not scale the portfolio.”* – Ben Hart It doesn’t matter what your product is. “*All business is people business*.” – Ben Hart  Be cautious with the posted “We Buy Houses” Signs. ***‘“It’s My House but It’s Their Home”*** so I shouldn’t be sending over maintenance guys that are cursing and smoking cigarettes, and scratching. And I should be giving 24 hours as a bare minimum required by law. I need to do 72 hours if I can. Respond to maintenance requests with respect. Mind the children, and their calendars. Home is where citizenship happens. “ Greater Rochester Association of Realtors Classes (GRAR) very good, well balanced **“Home is where the Hart is”**   HartHomesRoc.com   If you are in the Rochester NY area and would like to be on the podcast, please send me an email and tell us what you do or what organization you represent that contributes to the bettering of the people or the Greater Rochester area. We bring local businesses to the forefront of the community and we look to keep you always informed in terms of what's happening in your community. MarciaGlenn53@gmail.com Please email your questions about today's episode or any questions you have about real estate, or buying or selling a home to glennadvantage@howardhanna.com. We will be answering these questions in our future podcast episodes. Marcia Glenn is a licensed Associate Real Estate Broker with has worked tirelessly since 1992 for her clients, whether they are buying or selling a home. Her team of agents brings with them experience, innovation, perspective and drive to make them part of the top 10% of all REALTORS in the Rochester NY area.  Join us next time for "On the Go with the Glenn Advantage Team". Search for "On the Go with the Glenn Advantage Team wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to our YouTube channel @glennadvantage, or follow us on Instagram and Facebook.