Tacoma

Our Low Income Housing in Washington Can Change Lives

Tacoma, WA

Many people move to the Seattle region for the quality of life and fantastic outdoor living options. They soon find out that living in Tacoma or anywhere around Seattle WA is expensive. If a person is in the lower income brackets, retired on fixed income, or has other responsibilities or constraints, low income housing in Washington in decent neighborhoods with access to public transportation and services would be a lifesaver – if you could find it. Tacoma, Washington is no exception. Sadly, Tacoma had a long history of being “Hooverville” or “Shanty Town” due to well over 150 years as the dirty industrial port area serving shipping, timber, and the railway industries outside the waterfront inlets and bays of the well to do neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods abounded, civil services were absent, and local residents survived in Dickensonian conditions. 


In the 1990’s Tacoma government started a hard push to clean up, build out, create infrastructure, and promote Tacoma of its own. It worked, almost too well. Tacoma now is the third largest city in Washington and growing by double digits. So is the cost of living. Wages, while higher than some regions of the U.S., have nowhere near kept up with the cost of housing, groceries, gas, and other necessities. The local housing authority is over burdened and does not have anywhere close to the Section 8 housing needed to help low income renters find decent places to live. When we looked into Tacoma affordable housing issues, we saw lots of unmaintained property, and masses of people needing decent, low cost rentals. It was a perfect match for Old Glory and what we do best – transform lives through affordable housing. 


At Old Glory we believe dreams of living in a healthy environment should be available to everyone, not just the uber well to do. Everyone, regardless of income level wants a safe community, good schools, quality medical services, and healthy recreational opportunities. With the boom in population and businesses moving to the greater Seattle area, Tacoma has become a rapidly expanding hot spot for urban and suburban living. There are not a lot of low income apartment rental opportunities, though, nor low income houses for rent. Old Glory saw a great opportunity to help the working class families and fixed income residents with the abundance of distressed homes from the many decades that Tacoma languished in economic downturn. We are buying, repairing, upgrading, remodeling, renovating, and salvaging homes in many neighborhoods to provide fixed and low income single parents, veterans, seniors, disabled, health challenged, and other members of the community the opportunity at a good, safe, comfortable low income rental home. 
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The Problem

Our Impact

$71,805

Average Washington
Household Income

$17,448

Average Old Glory
Washington Resident Income

146

Rental
Properties

20,424

 People Served

Affordable Housing Washington State Wide is a Challenge

Tacoma Washington is the largest suburb of Seattle, 31 miles to the NNE. Tacoma, like many of the port areas around Puget Sound, suffered from industrialization and divestment of dockage, the forestry industry, and shipping. Tacoma began a wide reaching revitalization effort during the 1990’s that has brought the port back to life and made urban living along the waterfront a reality once again.


Now ranked as one of the most livable cities in the U.S., as well as one of the most walkable, Tacoma real estate values have skyrocketed as people throng to Seattle in search of good weather, progressive governance, and an influx of tech companies offering good jobs. Property prices in the greater Seattle area now rival or pass nearly any location on the West Coast, making finding an affordable Seattle home extremely difficult for many lower income workers.


The local housing authority while doing the best they can, is seriously overwhelmed. Health concerns have created grave economic challenges for lower income families, seniors, the disabled, and veterans trying to find low income house rentals in recent times. We decided to do something about it.

Tacoma, WA Is Growing Fast, and Expensive – We Can Help

Living in one of the most beautiful areas of the country is great, unless you are working so many hours trying to make ends meet you never get to enjoy it. Holding down multiple jobs to meet the bills and just barely keep a roof over your head – if you do – causes a lot of stress and is disheartening. Beautiful places tend to attract people, and more people mean raised rents as housing gets scarcer and scarcer.


That is exactly what is happening in Tacoma Washington.


Adding to the positive points of the greater Seattle area, commuting in the region can be challenging. Many of the outlying areas with slightly lower country housing costs require long commutes, often in inclement weather, along under-developed highway systems originally built for the locals and not all the new arrivals. Having a long commute with little public transportation in far reached areas makes finding cheap housing in a safe neighborhood very challenging. Many people in Tacoma want to know their children have good public schools available and can get to a local library when they want. Public services and access to them are important to people in the Puget Sound region.

Good, Safe Low Income Housing in Tacoma WA Is Possible

Tacoma Washington is the largest suburb of Seattle, 31 miles to the NNE. Tacoma, like many of the port areas around Puget Sound, suffered from industrialization and divestment of dockage, the forestry industry, and shipping. Tacoma began a wide reaching revitalization effort during the 1990’s that has brought the port back to life and made urban living along the waterfront a reality once again.


Now ranked as one of the most livable cities in the U.S., as well as one of the most walkable, Tacoma real estate values have skyrocketed as people throng to Seattle in search of good weather, progressive governance, and an influx of tech companies offering good jobs. Property prices in the greater Seattle area now rival or pass nearly any location on the West Coast, making finding an affordable Seattle home extremely difficult for many lower income workers.


The local housing authority while doing the best they can, is seriously overwhelmed. Health concerns have created grave economic challenges for lower income families, seniors, the disabled, and veterans trying to find low income house rentals in recent times. We decided to do something about it.

There are a lot of abandoned, empty, hurting houses and apartment buildings out there. We know, because that is exactly what we look for, in decent neighborhoods people would like to live in. A lot of homes are still sitting vacant or the owners are struggling to hang on with massive repairs facing them to keep the house stable. Many of these homes have been wanting for love for over a decade or more. The greater area around Tacoma, Olympia, and surrounding Seattle counties have a lot of homes that are very repairable but not on the waterfront or other high-ticket, name conscious, fashionable areas.


We buy those homes, refurbish them and give them a new lease on life, and then offer them at very reasonable monthly rent to people who truly need affordable housing. We handle our own property management to keep our overhead down. When someone needs to unload a home, settle an estate, or has other property that is in dire need of work, we take the donation or make an offer if the home is salvageable and in a decent location. We do not care about view property, waterfront, or cutting edge design. Some of the best homes we find are solid, hand built craftsman quality homes from years back that just need some TLC.


We give them the care they deserve, and then rent them at a reasonable price to veterans, senior citizens, disabled or health challenged people, or families who have struggled to keep a roof over their heads. We want to keep our fellow human beings off the street and warm at night. It is the right thing to do and it is desperately needed in Tacoma, as there just is not enough low income housing in the region.

Old Glory Knows Washington Low Income Housing is Desperately Needed

Affordable Housing Tacoma is a Dream Come True

The team at Old Glory means it when we say we want to transform lives through affordable housing. Just because an area is booming does not mean that people on the lower end of the earning spectrum have it easy. Often it is much harder for them to make ends meet, to get second chances to reestablish themselves, and to even survive.


At Old Glory we think helping people recover and have a decent place to live is the right, moral, ethical thing to do. That is why we take house donation that are in dire need of repair, and buy distressed property to rebuild. We put in the work, using local labor and companies, then do our own property management to keep costs down.


We utilize all resident services opportunities that we can. We partner with local agencies, non-profits, organizations, and any other reliable, honorable group that has the same vision we do – cleaning up neighborhoods to help property values while providing clean, safe housing at a fair, affordable price.


Our work in Tacoma for low income housing Washington needs is right on our core values. It is just the right thing to do, and that is how we try to do everything at Old Glory.


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