My Culture of Outcomes
Jennifer Kermode
Our housing challenges are extensive and complicated. Since most of us have few chances to ‘do housing’ at all in our constricted, difficult-to-develop areas, we have to work really smart and ‘do it right’ the first time. Thus, I’m all about outcomes - like giving people keys to their own front door, setting strong foundations (no pun intended) so locals can sleep, eat, and play in good homes, work in good neighborhoods and thrive in their home towns - outcomes like growing viable, integrated organizations that use Sensible, Transparent, Equitable and Defensible practices in their communities.
I am passionate about doing this work. I’ve exceeded expectations and delivered on promises (okay, most promises) for those I’ve served. My outcome: Keeping our communities alive and thriving for those who live, work and play in them.
My History
I’ve been in affordable housing in different positions, with different companies and addressing affordability in different ways since 1982. I was a loan originator back then with a major Denver mortgage banker, focusing on first-time buyers and starter homes. I guess that’s what we would call “naturally occurring affordable housing” these days – but interest rates were 18.4%, average home prices around $95 - $120K, median income for a 4-person HH was $40k and no one stopped buying houses. We figured out how to make mortgages affordable for buyers back then, with lovely tools like the GPM and ARM loans, temporary rate buydowns, seller carry’s, wrap-arounds, assumptions, and on and on. And then we graduated into interest-onlys and ‘neg-ams” (aka negatively amortizing loans). Wow! Talk about creative! Almost anyone breathing could get a loan – those low-doc and no-doc, breathe-on-the-mirror loans. And, sadly and unintentionally, all of that fun and those games became sooooo devastating to sooooo many borrowers.
I’ve been in the government-led affordable housing cavern since 2007. I spent 9 years with the Summit Combined Housing Authority in Breckenridge, Colorado serving the 5 main jurisdictions in Summit County, and another 5 years with the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority in Gunnison, Colorado. What fun we had during those days....
Areas of Expertise
- Deed restricted property and program development
- Collaborate with public and private developers in the design of deed restricted neighborhoods, incorporating public needs and desires into development
- Recommend structure and content of declarations, rules, regulations, and restrictive covenants
- Extensive experience in loan programs
- Extensive experience in strategic planning