Program in City of Reading Aims to Revitalize Community

The city of Reading in Pennsylvania is taking the issue of vacant properties into their own hands through a program called CORE.

[IMAGE]

CORE seeks to sell government-owned abandoned properties in an effort to revitalize the community and help people in the area achieve homeownership.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

The program was forged through a private-public partnership between the city of Reading, the ""Reading-Berks Association of Realtors"":http://www.realestateinberks.com/content/ (RBAR), and the ""Pennsylvania Association of Realtors"":http://www.parealtor.org/ (PAR).

""Many working families are priced out of today's real estate market,"" said PAR President Frank Jacovini. ""CORE will provide much-needed affordable housing for first-time homebuyers, teachers, firefighters, police officers and others who are essential to the economic vitality of our communities.""

One of the advantages of the program is a special tax incentive offered through the city for those who purchase CORE-designated homes.

""Our Realtor® members have worked with city officials to customize CORE to meet the needs of Reading,"" said Chuck Liedike, RBAR government affairs director. ""One of the unique incentives included is the reduced transfer tax to 1 percent. This incentive will ensure that buyers interested in fixing up the property can do so without any needed issues related to a higher transfer tax.""

More information on the program can be found online at ""PARealtorCORE.com"":http://parealtorcore.com/.