Dolores owns a land trust home in Detroit-Shoreway and she couldn’t be happier. When looking for a house, a friend suggested Neighborhood Housing Services’ (NHS) Land Trust program, which offers affordable home ownership opportunities. But a land trust? What does it all mean?
“That means that I own the house, I own the garage, but I do not own the land,” says Dolores. “The land is kept in perpetuity for affordable housing in the community.
“[NHS] organized the entire project… the only I had to do was qualify for a loan, come up with the down payment and do things like choose what kinds of wood products I wanted in the house, what kind of flooring, that kind of thing… I got to do the fun part.”
If you’re looking to own a home, but want to save some money, look into the Land Trust program. There are qualifications, but if you meet the income requirements and are qualified for a loan, you could have yourself a rehabbed, energy efficient home like Dolores, whose home is certified LEED platinum.
Delores says her house’s walls are thicker than most and filled with lots of insulation, her windows are all double-paned glass, the furnace is 95% efficient and, expect for the dryer, she has all Energy Star appliances.
“All the lighting is compact fluorescent or LED so everything that went in the house was carefully vetted before it was used,” says Delores. According to her, she pays only $32 a month on her monthly gas bill.
Sound promising? Look into a Land Trust home, take the mandatory training classes and you could be a happy Land Trust homeowner like Delores.