Homestead Community Land Trust Programs
Homestead works with low- and moderate-income households to help them buy homes they can afford in the Seattle area. Homes bought through Homestead cost $50,000 to $100,000 less than the home’s market-rate value. Monthly mortgage payments can be roughly what applicants are currently paying for rent. Permanently affordable homeownership offers the stability, control and equity-building potential that renting does not. Homestead has homes available throughout Seattle for a range of affordable prices.
Dedicated Homestead staff supports homeowners before and after they purchase, ensuring they understand the ins and outs of homebuying and homeownership. Homestead provides initial education to help households make informed choices regarding homeownership and assists households to become purchase ready with intensive one-on-one counseling. Additionally, Homestead provides pre-qualification counseling for appropriate mortgage products, and support through the home purchase process.
And it works! Not a single Homestead homeowner has experienced foreclosure.
Homestead believes that the best way to ensure that everyone can afford to purchase a home — families today and tomorrow – is to make and keep homes affordable.
By agreeing to resell their home, when they want to do so, at an affordable price to the next buyer, homeowners ensure that affordable homes bought though Homestead are kept so for future generations.
Homestead stewards the ongoing affordability of the growing number of homes in its portfolio, allowing future generations to also access to affordable homeownership in their communities. Many generations of low- to moderate-income households are served on a single housing investment.
The value of the public and private investment in creating affordable homeownership is preserved and becomes highly leveraged over time. This stock of affordable homes becomes a community asset, enhancing community revitalization efforts while countering displacement of low-income households from their communities.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
With the recently launched Homestead Rebuilding Communities initiative, Homestead is in the process of transforming more than 30 distressed properties into quality, affordable, owner-occupied homes. In 2012, Homestead purchased 10 properties and rehabilitated and resold three affordable homes. Homestead will continue utilizing this and other strategies to improve neighborhoods and create affordable homeownership opportunities.
Homestead has partnered with 152 households to bring 149 homes into trust (the 152 includes 3 resales). There are 361 individuals who make up the 149 current homeowning households. Of these individuals 125 are under the age of 18. Over half, 55%, of Homestead homeowning households are households of color. The average Area Median Income (AMI), adjusted for household size of current Homestead homeowners is 58.8% of AMI. Homestead homeowners are individuals (36%), families including single parents (55%) and large families of five or more (9%).
As the portfolio of permanently affordable homes grows, Homestead will be offering increased and diversified services to current homeowners. The expansion of stewardship activities to support current Homestead homeowners will ensure the satisfaction and success of Homestead homeowners. The goal is to maintain Homestead's current foreclosure rate of 0%. Homestead needs charitable support to provide the financial, budgeting, loan modification counseling and other services to ensure the ongoing success of our homeowners.