[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.2.2″]<\/p>\n
After five years of renting and working as property caretakers, Chris and Sara were ready to look for a home of their own in the City of Maple Grove.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were tired of renting because we didn\u2019t feel like the home was our own. We wanted to break out of our shell and feel like we could make our space our own and start putting what we wanted on the walls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their quest for homeownership began in June 2016, working with a realtor, viewing many homes before they came across a Homes Within Reach (HWR) home listed on the MLS. Up until that point in time, neither the couple nor the realtor had heard about the Community Land Trust program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t even know what a land trust was,\u201d said Chris. \u201cIt was a total stroke of luck that we found HWR.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mission of the not for profit organization, West Hennepin Affordable Land Trust (WHAHLT), dba Homes Within Reach (HWR), is to create and preserve affordable homeownership for work-force families living and working in the suburban communities of Hennepin County.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bought our first home two days before Memorial Day 2017. It was everything we were looking for! A quiet neighborhood, four-bedroom home with 1 \u00bd bath with a two car garage. It\u2019s even on a corner lot!\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris and Sara both commute 10 to 15 minutes between home and work. \u201cWe saw the house and thought this is a perfect location and the house was in really good condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
HWR offers qualified work-force families the opportunity to purchase a home by using the Community Land Trust practice which removes the land from the mortgage equation and leases the land at a nominal fee, which reduces the mortgage, down payment and closing costs. HWR staff work with families that would be otherwise unable to buy a home in Hennepin suburban communities; thereby opening the door to them as homeowners to invest in endeavors that truly enhance the quality of their lives – such as education for the family, career opportunities, supportive health environment and the comfort and the security of being a homeowner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe absolutely love the HWR staff \u2013 they did a fantastic job of helping us find our new home and working with us through the qualification process, which took four months. We did take the first time homebuyer\u2019s class. It was a lot of stuff we knew from being property caretakers but we learned about different kinds of loans and how to budget our money as homeowners.\u201d<\/p>\n
The HWR staff worked with the couple\u2019s mortgage loan officer to become eligible. \u201cSince working with us, our mortgage loan officer has helped at least three other families become homeowners,\u201d Chris shared. \u201cWe\u2019re the reason he\u2019s working with other HWR homebuyers now.\u201d<\/p>\n
What attracted the couple to their Maple Grove home was the space. \u201cIt\u2019s a very good space for us \u2013especially to grow into as we wait for the arrival of our second child due in November. \u201cWhen we rented, we lived on a very busy street and couldn\u2019t enjoy the backyard. Now we live on a quiet street and our child can go outside and play.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"