A South LA resident will soon be the owner of a fully remodeled, energy efficient home in the neighborhood near Broadway and West 46th Street where he has rented for 22 years.
The house he will soon own on West 46th Street was built in 1907. Over the years, it fell into disrepair, and more recently, into foreclosure. That’s where Restore Neighborhood Los Angeles (RNLA) entered the picture. RNLA’s mission is to acquire foreclosed and abandoned properties, rehabilitate them and then sell them to low and moderate-income families in Los Angeles.
The house on West 46th Street is the 100th property that RNLA has renovated since 2009. Of the 220 properties that RNLA has purchased, 75% of them are in South LA, according to RNLA Executive Director John Perfitt.
“We are very proud of our work in the City of Los Angeles in communities hardest hit by foreclosures,” said Perfitt. “Thanks to our partners at the City of Los Angeles Housing Department and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, we are providing some very significant investment to some very deserving communities.”
Perfitt says RNLA generally buys the foreclosed properties for about $150,000. They put in another $150,000 in remodeling costs then sell the property for an average of $200,000. The house on West 46th Street was listed and sold for $225,000. Buyers are determined solely on criteria, according to RNLA, not the highest bidder. 
The home was renovated according to the Enterprise Green Communities standard. That means it meets a host of criteria, including that it is energy efficient and uses building materials that are non-toxic.
During the RNLA-sponsored tour of the home, the air temperature outside was hot, but inside, the insulation kept the still empty house cool and comfortable. The house also features a tankless water heater, bamboo flooring (bamboo is considered an eco-friendly wood), recycled ceramic tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms, and the yard is being landscaped with drought-tolerant plants.
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