Before purchasing a home through the Portland Community Land Trust, Amy and her young son, Jake, lived in a small apartment in Southeast Portland. Small might be an overstatement—Jake had the only bedroom, leaving Amy to sleep on a futon in the living room. When Amy worked as the apartment manager, she enjoyed reduced rent and a small salary. But when the apartment complex no longer needed a manager, her rent more than tripled—and with a small son to support, money became a real concern. Amy learned about land trust homes under construction at Rosemont Commons in North Portland’s Piedmont neighborhood. She and Jake moved in to their very own home on Amy’s birthday.

Housing gives people an opportunity to build better lives.
Children like Jake deserve an opportunity to succeed in school and life—and that’s tied to having a stable home. The pride and stability of homeownership offer families of modest means an opportunity for upward economic mobility. Yet housing costs in Portland have placed homeownership out of reach for many hardworking families in our community. There is a growing gap between the buying power of people’s wages and the cost of a safe, decent home
in Portland.

The Portland Community Land Trust bridges the gap by removing land costs from the housing equation.
PCLT opened its doors in 1999 with a mission of conserving land for permanently affordable homeownership. Land trust homeownership is a partnership between a family that purchases and owns the house and the larger community which provides the funds to place the land in trust. Through PCLT, working families are able to own homes at prices they can afford. PCLT homeowners lease the land beneath their homes through a 99-year, renewable lease, which gives them full rights to use of the land: they can plant a garden, have a dog, put up a swing set for the kids—the kinds of things homeowners want to be able to do. They have the pride and security of homeownership, a chance to build equity, and a legacy for their heirs.

Adrian grew up in Portland. He and LaShonda had been living in Milwaukie for several years, and began looking into homeownership when interest rates began dropping. They expected it to be a one or two month process, but the lack of affordable homes for sale extended their search to a year. After long and frustrating months of not finding any viable affordable homes in Milwaukie, their realtor told them about Community Land Trusts. Adrian was pleased to learn that his family could own a home at a reasonable price through PCLT, with a very affordable monthly payment. With two children and a third on the way, Adrian and LaShonda purchased a PCLT home in North Portland, close to family and friends.

How does the land trust work?
PCLT homeownership is about balancing needs. We balance families’ goals of building wealth through homeownership with the community’s need to protect and steward its substantial investment in the land. In return for access to homeownership at a reasonable price, land trust homeowners re-sell their homes at prices that future buyers can afford, without additional subsidy.

When land trust homeowners decide to move, they receive a fair return on their investment while passing the good deal on to the next buyer. PCLT homeowners gain equity and build family assets; Portland gains homes that are affordable forever.

PCLT provides long-term, fiscally prudent stewardship for two increasingly scarce resources: land and capital.
Through PCLT, the community’s investment in the land is secure, and will continue to support a stock of affordable homes for generations in Portland. Our affordably priced homes will create hundreds of affordable homeownership oppor-tunities over the years without any additional subsidy.

“Accessibility for me and a yard for Michael is exactly what we need,” says Randy. “Michael runs circles around the yard. He loves it. I can’t wait until the weather is nice. I will be spending a lot of time outside.” Randy, who uses a wheelchair, shares his PCLT home with his service dog, Michael.

Over the years, we’ve learned that homeownership is a process. So we’ve tailored our program to help prepare people for the ongoing responsibilities of homeownership.

We provide homebuyer education.
Buying a home is a daunting and cumbersome process for anyone. PCLT supports land trust homebuyers throughout the home purchase process, through classroom education and intensive individual coaching along the way. We work hard to ensure buyers feel knowledgeable about the entire process and about the responsibilities of homeownership. We have provided homebuyer education to hundreds of potential buyers each year. Of those, about fifteen families are able to make the transition to homeownership through PCLT each year. We have a long waiting list
of interested homebuyers who want to purchase land trust homes and we wish that we had the resources to make their dreams of homeownership come true.

We provide financial assistance.
With funding from public and private sources, we provide financial assistance to buyers purchasing PCLT homes. Every dollar invested in PCLT homebuyer assistance
is an investment in housing conservation, creating
an inventory of homes in Portland that will be
affordable forever.

Two years, ago, Julie started her home buying journey with a homebuyer education class. A lender approved her for a $175,000 loan, but she wondered who was going to make the monthly payment that loan required. “Certainly not me!”she laughs. With grant funding through the Portland Community Land Trust and the Housing Authority of Portland, Julie and her ten-year-old daughter, Ja’Shayla, are proud owners of a beautiful and very affordable new home in the New Columbia development in North Portland’s Portsmouth neighborhood. Julie, a Department of Environmental Quality employee for thirteen years, now lives in her own home, close to work, friends, a community center and a park.

We offer ongoing homeowner support.
For homeowners of modest means, post-purchase support—in areas such as household financial management and home maintenance—is crucial to their success. PCLT is committed to ensuring that land trust homeowners have the tools they need to be successful and to protect their investment after they’ve closed on their new home.

Support takes many forms, from educational workshops to a quarterly PCLT homeowners newsletter and the PCLT Homeowners Resource Guide. PCLT homeowners connect with each other and with community resources through a homeowner listserv and a “Homeowner Buddy System” that partners new PCLT homeowners with “veteran” PCLT homeowners.

Itzel really liked that even after signing closing papers to purchase her house, PCLT didn’t disappear. She likes the idea of attending homeowner workshops and looks forward to meeting more PCLT homeowners. Itzel, who was born in Mexico, is raising her daughter, Tonantzin, on a single income. “I am really thankful for the positive impact that PCLT makes,” she says.

Every single home that PCLT develops will be affordable forever.
Your support enables us to continue opening the doors to homeownership for hardworking folks in Portland. It’s a smart investment in the community. It’s real estate for the common good.

For more information please contact: Portland Community Land Trust 3109-B NE Broadway Portland, OR 97232 503.493.0293 www.pclt.org