Real estate struggles are tough on churches

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — In today's real estate market, selling a church building may require supernatural power.

Case in point: Some St. Joseph churches have been listed for sale for quite some time, including the building at 423 Hyde Park Ave. that formerly housed Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.

"It's a tough market for churches," notes Jerry Arnold, a real estate agent with Prudential Summers in St. Joseph, which has a listing for the church.

He adds that a number of factors contribute to this challenge, including the increased financial limitations of congregations that might otherwise be prospective buyers. "Most of them, contributions are down because people are out of work, and if part of the congregation is out of work, you're not going to be looking for a new church building."

Thus, after close to a year on the market (having been listed after its former congregation dwindled to just a few members and disbanded), the Hyde Park building has seen a significant drop in its listing price, from $150,000 to $125,000. This is an especially modest figure given that it likely cost $500,000 to build, Mr. Arnold notes.

And it isn't alone in its long-standing for-sale status. Also listed with Prudential is the collection of buildings at 3822 Cook Road that formerly belonged to The Pentecostals of St. Joseph, a congregation that moved to a new location last fall. The Rev. David Billingsley, the church's pastor, says one factor contributing to members' decision to move was a lack of success selling the buildings several years ago, which resulted in them ceding the facilities to their finance company and proceeding to lease them from the company for between $5,000 and $6,000 per month.

Moving to its current location at 1202 Felix St., in addition to being a decision aligned with their mission to reach the Downtown area, also freed The Pentecostals of that significant monthly expense. It purchased its new building outright with an understanding that any growth in membership may require buying again in a couple of years — although rather than attempting to sell their current facility, the church likely will continue to use it for something.

The Rev. Billingsley isn't surprised that his church's previous buildings, currently priced at $845,000, are still on the market.

"I think it's a real tough market right now if you're looking at something over a half million," he says. "Most congregations that can afford that already have buildings or can build their own."

And he anticipates the facility struggles facing churches won't go away anytime soon, especially for some of his fellow Downtown churches with small congregations and large buildings — and the large energy bills and upkeep costs that come with them.

"My heart goes out to them, because their congregations are dwindling, but their expenses are increasing," the Rev. Billingsley adds. "Eventually, we may see more (buildings) on the market."

Source: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/69113--real-estate-struggles-are-tough-on-churches