Rental Property
Financing

Explore our Programs

The Buffalo & Erie County Landlord Property Improvement Fund is made possible through a partnership with Erie County, the City of Buffalo, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and The Erie County Lead Safe Task Force with grant funding from the City of Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency through the New York State Attorney’s Office and with loan funds from Evans Bank, KeyBank and M&T Bank. The loan fund is administered by Home HeadQuarters.

The City of Elmira Landlord Property Improvement Program is a low-interest loan of up to $25,000 for small “Mom & Pop” landlords who own property in the city of Elmira and need to make health and safety and/or codes related property improvements.

PROGRAM DETAILS & ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• Loans of up to $25,000 at a 7.49% simple interest rate for exterior and/or interior property improvements to address health and safety and/or codes related repairs.

• The property must be located within the city of Elmira.

• Your property taxes and water bills must be current.

• The property must be a 1-4 unit building.

• All contracted work requires a permit and inspection through City of Elmira Community Development.

Home HeadQuarters offers financing to local, qualified investors who wish to purchase and/or renovate 1-4 unit rental properties located within Onondaga County. This program has a limited funding cycle.

PROGRAM DETAILS

• The program currently offers loan terms of up to 15 years with a fixed 8.99% interest rate

• 90% maximum Loan to Value after rehab

• No PMI/MPI

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• Owner must reside in Onondaga County

• Property must have a positive cash flow

• Must have prior mortgage commitment (either personal or investment property)

The Syracuse Landlord Window & Door Replacement Program is for rental properties located within city of Syracuse zip codes 13203, 13204, 13205 and 13207. Home HeadQuarters will review applications to identify eligible properties that are in need of window and exterior door replacement due to chipping lead paint. All windows and exterior doors will be replaced, based on cost reasonableness, with a grant (no payback deferred loan, provided property is retained for at least two years). Funding for this program is extremely limited.

PROGRAM & ELIGIBILITY DETAILS

• Eligible properties are located within city of Syracuse zip codes 13203, 13204, 13205 or 13207 only.

• Applicants must be landlords of 1- or 2-family unit rental property.

• Owner may reside in one unit.

• Landlords that have previously participated in the Windows & Doors program are not eligible for this program round.

• Only one property per landlord is eligible to apply.

• All windows and exterior doors can be replaced based on cost reasonableness of work scope/bid.

• Landlords may not self-perform and must secure a bid from a contractor who is RRP-certified and carries general liability and workers compensation.

• Funding is in the form of a grant (deferred loan) secured by a mortgage filed against the property.

• The property owner must agree to retain ownership of the property for at least two years, after which the lien may be released.

Funding for this program is made possible by Onondaga County Community Development and the Central New York Community Foundation.

Questions? (315) 474-1939 | info@homehq.org

The Vacant Rental Improvement Program (“VRP”) is a grant program funded by the State of New York and administered by the Housing Trust Fund Corporation’s (HTFC) Office of Community Renewal (OCR), to support repairs and rehabilitation of vacant rental units and other vacant spaces to increase the supply of critically needed apartments for low- and moderate-income renters. The program aims to help owners of rental properties bring vacant units and spaces in small-scale properties back into productive use to create safe, quality, and affordable long-term rental units.

This grant program is available for the rehabilitation of vacant rental units in 1-5 unit buildings located within the city of Syracuse, NY. The program can provide a standard award grant of up to $250,000 ($50,000 per unit) or an enhanced award grant of up to $375,000 ($75,000 per unit) to rehab a maximum of five (5) vacant rental units within the same building. There are many program eligibility stipulations and regulatory requirements including, but not limited to those listed below.

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

• Property must be located within the city of Syracuse

• Unit(s) eligible for rehab must be vacant, i.e., uninhabitable and/or unmarketable (a tenant cannot be relocated or evicted to make a unit vacant)

• The property must not be in foreclosure

• Property owner (private, certain business entities, nonprofits, public entities) must be the legal owner of one of the following:

  • 1-5 unit residential property

  • Mixed-use building with up to five (5) housing units

  • Other buildings that will be converted to one of the above

• Property owners must meet “Responsible Owner” requirements including, but not limited to, disclosing all owned properties, no bankruptcy or foreclosures, current on mortgage, property taxes and utilities and have comprehensive property insurance.

**NOTE: Application priority is given to local landlords who live in Central New York (Onondaga, Madison, Oswego, Cortland, Cayuga, Oneida and Jefferson Counties) and own 20 or fewer rental properties; and/or properties located within a designated Revitalization Strategy Area or in a low- to moderate-income census tract or neighborhood.

PROGRAM DETAILS

• Property owners can choose from one of two grant awards, either the standard award of $50,000 per unit for a maximum award of $250,000 or an enhanced award of $75,000 per unit for a maximum award of $375,000.

• Award level is based on tenant household income, i.e., the standard award requires an income limit of 80% of the area median and an enhanced award requires a tenant household income limit to be at or below 60% of the area median (See Syracuse Income Limits Here).

• Rehabilitation work will be determined by an HHQ Inspector and can include health and safety, code violations, access and egress improvements, roofs, basements, foundations, environmental remediation and even some fixtures.

• Property owner must agree to a 10-year regulatory period that includes affordability restrictions to participate in this program. Affordability restrictions for this program are tenant household income limits and maximum rent limits as determined by a Rent & Income Limit Calculator.

**NOTE: Lead and environmental review considerations have not yet been finalized by NYS and may impact allowable rehabilitation items for this program.

For information about this program throughout NYS, visit https://hcr.ny.gov/vrp