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Fire department finds unique way to raise money: flipping houses

DOVER TWP., Pa. – You’ve heard of bake sales and pancake breakfasts to raise money for worthy causes, but how about flipping real estate? That’s wha...

DOVER TWP., Pa. - You've heard of bake sales and pancake breakfasts to raise money for worthy causes, but how about flipping real estate?

That’s what the volunteer firefighters at the Dover Township fire department are doing, putting a different spin on fundraising.

“It's unique,” Dover Township’s deputy fire chief Brian Widmayer said. “A lot of people are happy that we're trying to make more money without necessarily going back and asking for more money.”

Last year the firefighters of Dover Township were thinking of new ways to come up with money for their fire department. They came up with a big one: helping residents find a new place to call home.

They consulted with an attorney and did plenty of research, eventually helping the department clear the way to enable them to pursue house-flipping as a fundraising tool.

The plan is straight-forward. First, the department’s non-profit arm purchased a distressed home earlier this month using reserves, specifically targeting a home in the township.

“Why go outside of our community?” Widmayer said. “We can make our community better.”

Then, it renovated the property with help from local contractors and real estate experts.

“The non-profit now can generate some revenue on its own using some volunteers and using some donations on the property,” Ray Abboud, who serves as a consultant on the project and is the president of Cash Now, a local real estate agency, said.

And finally, the department will sell the home at fair market value, with the proceeds benefiting the fire department.

“Nowadays you have to stretch your dollars as far as you can and we purchased a home that was foreclosed in the township, and fixed it up and now it's up for sale,” Widmayer said.

The house has many comforts, including the firefighter's touch: fire extinguishers for the day that the house isn't an auxiliary fire station.

“We've brought the fire truck here and got out of the fire truck, working on the house, and then we get a call and we leave,” Widmayer said.

And although there's risk as with any investment, they're confident this could be a significant way to raise funds in the future with other homes in Dover Township.

“They're taking a physical asset in their township and they will see at the end of the day that they're going to have a very solid clear number on this project,” Abboud said.

The four-bedroom home is located at 3053 Greenfield Drive in Dover Township and has a listing price of $159,900.

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