Are you looking to buy your first home?

Lakewood's First Time Homebuyers HOME Program provides one of the best mortgage financing packages available to qualified first time home buyers interested in purchasing a Lakewood home. Assistance, which comes in the form of a 0% interest, no monthly payment second mortgage is used to assist with both down payment and closing costs.

The City will be holding a First Time Homebuyers Seminar on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 6:00 PM in the City Hall Auditorium, 12650 Detroit Avenue. This seminar is offered once a month to prospective homebuyers and is mandatory for those seeking assistance through the HOME Program. There are some steps you need to take prior to attending the seminar, so please call the Division of Community Development at (216) 529-4663 and they will provide you with all of the details.

Click here to find out more about the HOME program and to see eligibility requirements. If you have any questions, please call the Division of Community Development at (216) 529-4663.

Lakewood Ranked as THE Best Place to Raise Your Kids in Ohio

Check out this snippet from Business Week Magazine, which ranked Lakewood as THE Best Place to Raise Your Kids for 2010.

We all know that with our new schools, great parks and fantastic neighborhoods that Lakewood is the best community to raise a family, but it's great to see that others are noticing too.

Business Week used data that included "school performance, number of schools, household expenditures, crime rates, air quality, job growth, family income, museums, parks, theaters, other amenities, and diversity." They gave the highest weights to affordability, safety and school performance.

Here's the link. The main article is available here.

First Time Homebuyer Program in High Demand

The Lakewood HOME Program provides one of the best mortgage financing packages available to qualified first time home buyers interested in purchasing a Lakewood home. Assistance, which comes in the form of a 0% interest, no monthly payment second mortgage is used to assist with both down payment and closing costs.

Used together with the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, you can buy a Lakewood home at an incredible value. Lakewood Realtors and banks alike have reported that the tax credit has been getting first time home buyers in Lakewood at record rates.

Lakewood's program offers deferred payment, zero percent (0%) interest second mortgage

* $7,500 for condominium property,
* $10,000 for single-family property, or
* $14,000 for two-family property with forgiveness schedule.

The loan to be repaid immediately at time of resale, transfer, or if property becomes absentee-owned. Purchasers of two family properties are eligible for loan forgiveness. Fifty percent (50%) will be forgiven aftern the fifth year of owning and occupying the property and twenty percent (20%) each year thereafter until one hundred percent (100%) forgiven.

The program will be available even after the tax credit expires. Find out more here.

Lakewood Resurfacing More Streets This Year

Public Works Director Joe Beno, Engineering Division Manager Bill Corrigan and Mayor FitzGerald look at plans on Bunts Road.

As you drive through Lakewood, you may have noticed that there is a lot of road construction occurring all over the city. In fact, there are more streets being resurfaced this year than there have been in any of the last 20 years. The City will be resurfacing over 7.5 miles of street, which is more than triple the average done in recent years.



Twenty-two streets are scheduled to be resurfaced during the 2009 construction season. The list of streets to be repaved include:

Alameda Avenue (Madison to Franklin)
Brockley Avenue (Clifton to Lake)
Concord Avenue (Marginal to Hilliard)
Cordova Avenue (Madison to Detroit)
Delaware Avenue (Lincoln to Brown)
Detroit Ext. (Detroit to End)
Esther Avenue (Alger to Mars)
Gladys Avenue (Detroit to Clifton)
Glenbury Avenue (Delaware to Hilliard)
Graber Drive (Detroit to Riverside)
Gridley Street (Detroit to End)
Kenilworth Avenue (Detroit to Sloane)
Marlowe Avenue (Franklin to Madison)
Orchard Grove (Madison to Detroit)
Park Place (Orchard Grove to Rosewood)
Phelps Avenue (Detroit to Sloane)
Riverway Avenue (Riverside to McKinley)
Spring Garden (Madison to Detroit)
Summit Avenue (Detroit to Clifton)
Thoreau Avenue (RR Tracks to Clifton)
Webb Road (Detroit to Lake)

In addition to these streets, Bunts Road from Lakewood Heights Boulevard to Clifton Boulevard is undergoing a water main replacement and street resurfacing project.

All of these projects are being done at no charge to property owners. They are being funded through Federal CDBG grant funds and Capital Improvement funds. The Bunts Road project is being funded by Lakewood’s Water and Capital Funds, Federal CDBG funds, the Cuyahoga County Engineer and by an Ohio Public Works Commission grant.

These projects represent the City of Lakewood’s continued commitment to infrastructure improvements. If you have any questions about any of these projects, contact the Division of Engineering at 216-529-6692.

Operation Paintbrush

Each year the City of Lakewood, Division of Community Development (DCD) hires contractors to wash, scrape and paint homes receiving free paint and labor through the Operation Paintbrush Program.

To qualify for this program, applicants must own and reside on their Lakewood property and meet the income guidelines listed here.

Each year the a couple dozen properties are painted through the program. Starting this year, all participating properties must choose from a color palette approved by the city and the Cleveland Restoration Society.

Application forms are now available online or by mail. To be considered for assistance through the program, completed forms and accompanying documentation must be returned to the Division of Community Development, 12650 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio 44107. Call 529-HOME for more details.