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Today in Our House DC

Welcome to the March issue of the Our House D.C. Newsletter!
 
In this edition, our feature story is written by Washington Informer Contributing Writer Angela Swinson Lee, “Black Appraisers Needed to Combat Bias.” Researchers have found evidence of a persistent practice that gives higher values to homes when the occupants are White and devalue them if the owners are Black or people of color. In her article, Angela explores how increasing the number of Black appraisers can address this problem.

If you have any Black homeownership story ideas, please email me at [email protected].
 
The Our House D.C. Newsletter is an important education and community resource tool for current and future District homeowners. I encourage you to subscribe, share it with your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors. And, also encourage that they become subscribers.


Thank you and Happy Spring.

Austin R. Cooper, Jr., Managing Editor
Chris Jackson, Owner, Jackson Appraisal Group, LLC.? (Courtesy of Chris Jackson)
Feature Story
Black Appraisers Needed to Combat Bias
By Angela Swinson Lee

Devin Minnis was between careers when his wife, a loan officer, suggested that he may want to explore becoming a real estate appraiser. He took her advice and has been in the appraiser business for the past two years as an appraiser trainee.  
 
Chris Jackson was flipping houses in Florida when an appraiser came in for 10 minutes and received a check for $400. The market crashed, and Jackson thought it may be time for a career pivot.  
 
Minnis and Jackson are two Black men in an extremely white profession as licensed appraisers, where they assign a value to a property. Appraisals are used by buyers, sellers and lenders to determine the assessment of a property.  
 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 75,000 appraisers in the United States, 97% are white and most are over 45.  
 
As discrimination in appraisals continues to be an issue, both men agree that recruitment of Black appraisers is one way to combat the issue.
Our House D.C. Stories

The D.C. Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday that it has issued $23.1 million in tax-exempt bonds for the construction of the Alabama Avenue Apartments in Ward 8’s Garfield Heights neighborhood.

The homeownership gap between Blacks and whites has widened despite more Americans owning homes now than a decade ago and the rate is increasing among all races, according to a recent report.

At bus stops and Metro stations around the city, cheery blue and green ads sponsored by DC Water read “Lead Free DC.” The utility has pledged to remove all lead service lines — the pipes connecting buildings to water mains — by 2030. But at the current rate, making that deadline would be impossible. 
In Our Next Edition:
Does Redlining Still Exist?
A Message From Our Readers:
“As a relatively new homeowner in Southeast D.C., I look to Our House D.C. newsletter to keep us informed of the ever-changing landscape of homeownership in The District.”

David E. Beckford, Ward 7 resident
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About Our House D.C.

Our House D.C. Newsletter, sponsored by The Washington Informer, 
is an engagement platform for Black D.C. residents to read about 
homeownership challenges and solutions and gain insights to 
protect and preserve their homes.