FREE MONEY FOR QUALIFIED BUYERS: City of Lakes Community Land Trust Home Buyer Programs

This post contains basic information about CLCLT Programs and is directed at individuals of moderate income who may be researching North Minneapolis, thinking of buying a home, and are interested in buyer assistance programs. It's a public service post, nothing entertaining or newsworthy. I do this kind of stuff, too.

I'll start with the contact information. Call Ben at...


...Urban Homeworks, 612-272-4339, benp@urbanhomeworks.org. Their website is urbanhomeworks.org or clclt.org.

Based on a brochure that I was provided at a recent Hawthorne Housing Committee Meeting...and which I promised to publicize, here I am getting around to it...it seems like CLCLT has three main rocking programs.

# Homes for sale, which are "turn the key" ready unlike the many fixer-uppers for sale in North Minneapolis at rock bottom prices, the market has never been better, woo hoo.

# Project Reclaim, which is "a responsible contract for deed program."

# HIP, the Homebuyer Initiated Program.

First, in regard to homes for sale, here are the addresses of homes in North Minneapolis for those who want to do more research: 1314 15th Ave. N., 1522 Irving Ave. N., 4247 Emerson Ave. N., 2015 4th St. N., 5139 Vincent Ave. N., and 2101 Illion Ave. N.

The actual fair market value/sales price of the houses is the market value price. Qualified buyers with incomes below 80 or 50 percent of median income. CLCLT sales price determined buy buyer's ability to qualify for mortgage and subject to buyer need.

Resale restrictions per Ground Lease with CLCLT. (Please note: the land trust basically owns the land under the house, and leases it back to the owner of the house for a nominal sum. I'm told the sum is $1 but I have not been able to confirm that officially)

Second, in regard to Project Reclaim. This is a home ownership tool to equip and support households to successfully own quality revitalized homes. The goal is to facilitate successful homeownership that helps create a healthy and vibrant community. It is designed for households that have been declined by a regular mortgage due to credit challenges.

This program creates an opportunity for people to affordably own a home and participate in a credit enhancement program and debt reduction. Project Reclaim minimizes the homebuyers' exposure to financial risks and real estate speculation.

Highlights of the program are as follows.

# Three percent interest rate.

# Monthly payment will be approximately equal to a 6.5 percent conventional mortgage.

# Home values range between $100k and $150k.

# Two percent reserve account established for the homeowner to use for approved purposes.

# Rehabilitated home with great attention to detail and stringent construction standards.

# Buyer support through mandatory credit enhancement program.

# Contract for Deed with an initial term up to 24 months.

Qualified applicants will: Plan to purchase a home in Minneapolis. Not qualify for a conventional mortgage. Need a credit enhancement program to minimize debt and increase credit score within the terms of the contract period. Household income must be greater than $30,000 annually. But the household income must be less than the following amounts, based on family size:

Family of 1, $43,050. Family of 2, $49,200. Family of 3, $55,350. Family of 4, $61,500. Family of 5, $66,400. Family of 6, $71,350.

It should be noted this program is actually spelled "Project: Reclaim" with a colon in the middle, like that. However, this English Major (magna cum laude) has SERIOUS ISSUES with that colon. Try writing about this program and putting that colon in the name all the time; it makes the text messy and confusing. Therefore, on my own initiative, I removed the colon. I can do that.
It's my blog. Go ahead and send me mad voice mails and emails via Facebook, I can deal with that. It's worth it, to fight the scourge of "trendy punctuation."

The third program outlined in the brochure is CLCLT HIP. (Homebuyer Initiated Program) Selected families will purchase homes currently on the market with the help of two grants: Up to $65,000 towards the purchase of a home, and up to $25,000 to rehab the house.

In exchange for the grants, the participating buyers will agree to the Community Land Trust model of home ownership, which (if and when the buyers decide to sell) will limit the resale price and keep the homes affordable for future low- to moderate-income buyers.

To be eligible for HIP, households must be under 80 percent of the area median income. Funding of CLCLT HIP homes gives preference to applicants who make less than 50 percent of the median income. These requirements may depend on family size.

Here, for example, are the numbers for a family of 3:

Fifty percent of MMI qualifies for up to $65,000 in affordability assistance. Fifty percent of MMI for a family of three is $36,400. For complete numbers and to find out if you qualify, visit clclt.org or call Staci Horwitz at (612) 721-7556, ext. 18.

To be considered, though, you'll need the following things:

# Complete a homebuyer education workshop.

# Attend a CLT orientation session.

# Get mortgage financing from a CLT-approved lender.

# Complete a CLCLT application.