Today, we're excited to announce that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), has invested $5,000,000 to create a fund for Landed's down payment program that will make it easier for educators and school employees in expensive areas – regions that face some of the highest housing costs in the country – to buy homes. Any proceeds that are generated from this fund will continually be re-invested into helping more educators access homeownership as a housing option.
We founded Landed to help make it a little easier for hard working families to step into homeownership. In many places, saving for a 20% down payment can be an impossible challenge, while buying a home without a 20% down payment is often prohibitively expensive and risky. We need to try new, market-based approaches to improve access to expensive housing for those who serve our communities.
This investment from CZI represents an important milestone for our company. We hope that more philanthropic organizations and community investors across the country join in to test this approach in the communities they care about, wherever they may be.
The detailed terms of the investment are as follows:
- Eligibility: Any district or public school employee looking to buy in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Colorado, Seattle, and Hawaii.
- Support: Up to half of a down payment (max $120,000), for the purchase of a primary residence.
- Terms: Participants share up to 25% of the appreciation (or loss) in the price of the home upon sale, or after 30 years, whichever is sooner. There are no monthly payments.
- Other: Participants can choose to end their relationship with Landed at any time. Homebuying education will also be made available to participants.
While making housing more accessible will require many approaches, we hope this down payment program will help to make it a little easier for great educators to stay and build successful careers in the region.
At Landed, milestones like this are not a time to celebrate – they are times to get to work. We look forward to serving educators by helping them find a little more financial security near the communities they serve.
It’s time to uphold those who uphold us.
If you want to learn more about Landed or are ready to access down payment funds, don't hesitate to visit landed.com or contact us at hi@landed.com.
