A lot of people buy a multifamily building. Now, investors are attracted to Plainfield. Reed believes the window of opportunity for purchasing large homes at low prices may be open for another two to three years. There are incentives in place from the state for development in the inner city. Luis Nogueira, broker owner of Exit Realty Lucky Associates, which operates two offices in Newark and one in Elizabeth, said cities are taking advantage of programs to help first-time homebuyers and investors finance homes.
Home owners can get five-year tax abatements and that makes a big difference.
In the past couple of years, the economy also helped. Multifamily homes are most attractive to consumers, he said, because they can purchase a home with a 5 percent down payment, live in one unit and rent the other to help pay the mortgage. Nogueira said the new-home construction activity that has been taking place in Newark's north ward for the past decade has started to spill over to the south and west wards. He credits the city's redevelopment program of selling vacant lots to developers at affordable prices. Now they do and they are adding the quality of the construction that the private sector brings in.