Today, we’re excited to share an important milestone in Landed’s journey to help essential professionals build financial security in the communities they serve: we’ve expanded beyond public K-12 schools to serve higher education institutions.
We recognize that those who work in higher education face similar challenges to those who work in K-12 schools – increasing housing prices near their campuses, commute times that keep getting longer, and salaries that have not kept pace with other industries. Many colleges and universities are located in the highest-cost neighborhoods in the highest-cost cities in America, meaning that employees of all types (lecturers, librarians, food service staff, and more) struggle to find ways to permanently afford to live near their work.
Landed aims to put a dent in this problem for higher education professionals in expensive areas across the country. Our team is particularly thrilled that our first higher education partner is Bellevue College, the largest of the 34 public colleges in the Washington State Community and Technical Colleges system.
Bellevue College is a special place for us for many reasons. Our co-founder, Alex Lofton, grew up just a few blocks from the BC campus, and his high school graduation was in the BC auditorium. Our first Seattle area partner real estate agent, Matt McGaffey, is a Bellevue College alumnus who also lives near the campus. And in October 2018, Bellevue School District became our first partner district in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, more than 100 BSD employees have been engaged with Landed homebuying resources, and three BSD employees have already successfully closed on homes with us.
Now, the same down payment program that Bellevue School District employees have used is available to all full-time faculty, staff, and administrators who have worked for Bellevue College for at least two years. We believe this could be a very meaningful tool in helping retain faculty and staff who are struggling to afford the Seattle area, and so do our partners at Bellevue College.
“The cost of living in the greater Seattle area is a challenge for our faculty and staff. Too many are unable to afford the down payment on a home close to where they work. We’re encouraged by the early success that Landed is already having for the Bellevue School District. Our hope is that this program will make homeownership more accessible to our employees.”
–Bellevue College President Jerry Weber
We’re hosting two upcoming info sessions for interested Bellevue College employees on campus on Monday, March 18. Interested potential homebuyers can RSVP at www.landed.com/events.
We hope this launch will be the first of many for colleges and universities in high-cost cities. If you work at a public college or university in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, or Hawaii, we would love to hear from you and see if we can help bring a solution to the housing challenge to your campus.
