BCHA helps families own homes

SANDPOINT — It’s been a big year for the Bonner Community Housing Agency.

After many years of work, the organization is finally realizing its goal of helping families that can’t quite afford home ownership. Using a program that allows individuals to receive assistance in paying their mortgage, BCHA personnel have helped two families set themselves up in new accommodations and plan to help more families soon.

The satisfaction of helping families invest in a Bonner County future has been a long time coming. According to BCHA director Chris Bassett, he and his team have been working on setting up the affordable home ownership project for eight years through a land trust with the federal government.

“It’s extremely gratifying to see something birthed in 2006 come to pass eight years later,” said Bassett

The arrangement allows BCHA associates to secure loans that reduce the total amount of a family’s mortgage.

For instance, if a family needs a home in the $250,000 price range but can only afford a $150,000 mortgage, the agency can help them secure what is essentially a $100,000 loan. The trick is that families never have to make payments on the loan, and there is no interest growth attached. All they need to do is pay the money back if they should choose to sell the home.

In the case of the two families that have participated so far, they received newly-constructed homes designed for their individual family needs. Baker Construction provided the manpower to build the homes from the ground up, while Washington Trust Bank marshaled the troops for financing services.

Bassett said he and his crew were particularly invested in getting the families settled in before the start of the holiday season. Now that the first two clients have taken ownership of their homes, they can enjoy the first of hopefully many Christmas seasons on their own property, he said.

“They’re very excited that we were able to get both of those homes done before the holidays,” Bassett said. “That was really important to us.”

Meanwhile, work is progressing with the agency’s next two clients. According to Bassett, one home is under construction, but the agency has not yet finalized which family will be participating in the program. Another home has already been sold but not yet constructed.

Bassett sees the project as something of a community investment: When you empower residents to own their homes and property, they have a much greater incentive to engage in community organizations and institutions. The idea of home ownership is irrevocably woven into the American dream, and the for Bassett, helping young families realize that dream is an honor.