How it works
Buy a good home in the town you choose, with a payment you can keep.
The foundation covers the part of the monthly payment that prices and rates have pushed beyond a working income, so you do not have to trade the town, the schools or the commute to own a home.
Who it is for
Your first home
You have not owned a home in the last three years.
You will live in it
The home is your main residence, not an investment or a second home.
In a town we cover
The first fund works on the North Shore, in Park Ridge and Hinsdale, and in the near-west suburbs.
A working income
Your household's income can carry the assisted payment, and a lender will make your first mortgage.
Criteria are published and applied the same way to everyone. Age is never one of them. See the fair housing section of our legal notice.
See your gap in a minute
From readiness to keys
Readiness
A short check of savings, debts and credit, with the three things that would move you forward fastest.
Your plan
Your town, your price range and today's rate: the market payment, the payment with assistance, and the gap.
Application
Household, income and documents, saved as you go. Applications open as each cohort is funded.
Counseling
A session with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, at no cost to you.
Finding the home
Search with your own agent. We check the price against the town's cap before you make an offer.
Approval
We confirm the amount and send your assistance agreement to review and sign.
Closing
Two staff approve the payment, and the funds go to the closing with your lender.
Owning
An annual check-in, help if a hard month comes, and nothing to repay until you sell or refinance.
What the help looks like
Lend the gap, repaid when the home is sold. In the worked example, a $500,000 home at 7% with 20% down costs $2,661 a month. The foundation places $174,052 behind your mortgage, so your first mortgage is smaller and your payment is $1,503, the share of pay the same home took in 2020.
There is no monthly payment on the assistance. When you sell or refinance, you repay it together with a share of any rise in the home's value, and that money helps the next buyer. Your agreement sets out exactly how much and what happens if the home loses value.
This is the first fund's structure. The other approaches are shown for comparison on How capital could help.
Payment without help
$2,661
$500,000 at 7%, 20% down
Payment with help
$1,503
The 2020 share of median pay
Why help that ends is not enough
Principal reduction or deferred second lien
Flat monthly subsidy for 5 years
Declining subsidy until earnings catch up
Principal and interest as a share of median full-time earnings, assuming earnings grow 4.38% a year with the rate fixed at 7%. A flat subsidy leaves a payment cliff; recoverable principal assistance does not.
What we ask in return
- Live in the home as your main residence.
- Keep the mortgage, taxes and insurance paid, and tell us early if a hard month is coming.
- Complete a short check-in once a year so we can report outcomes honestly.
- Repay the assistance when you sell or refinance, as your agreement sets out.
Common questions
Who is the program for?
Working households buying their first home, to live in, in one of the towns the foundation covers. Eligibility is set by published criteria: first-time buyer status, owning the home you live in, and household income that can carry the assisted payment.
Age is never a criterion. The program exists because the gap hits people starting out, but it is open to any eligible first-time buyer.
How much help could I get?
Enough to bring the monthly payment back toward the share of pay it took before prices and rates jumped. In the worked example, a $500,000 home at 7% with 20% down, that is $174,052 of assistance.
Your amount depends on the home, the rate, your household and the funds available. Your plan in your account shows your own numbers.
Do I have to pay it back?
The first fund uses recoverable assistance. There is no monthly payment on it. It is repaid, with a share of any rise in the home's value, when you sell or refinance, so the same money can help the next buyer. Your agreement sets out exactly when and how much.
Do I still need a mortgage and a down payment?
Yes. A lender still makes your first mortgage, and you bring the down payment you have saved. The foundation's assistance closes the monthly gap that remains, so the payment fits a working income.