Paperwork signing
First home sale inked under Resilient Homebuyer Program
Trending
Bryan Juenger of Minot took a big step Thursday, not only signing to purchase a new house but becoming the first resident to take advantage of the city's new Resilient Homebuyer Program.
Juenger and Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma signed paperwork at North Dakota Guaranty & Title Co. that inked the first completed home purchase through the program, designed to help low- and moderate-income households affected by the 2011 flood or subsequent buyouts remain in Minot.
The Resilient Homebuyer Program is set up through the National Disaster Resilience Program, funded through a Department of Housing and Urban Development Disaster Recovery grant. The program's goal is to retain, within city limits, Minot residents who were impacted by the 2011 flood by providing gap financing for the purchase of resilient, affordable homes.
The program provides up to a $60,000 loan at zero percent interest to cover home purchase costs not funded by a conventional mortgage. If a borrower meets certain conditions over 15 years of payments, including remaining in the home, the loan is forgivable.
Juenger, who received the full $60,000, said the extra boost in funds makes it that much easier to stay in Minot, take care of his son and continue to work at his job in the MarketPlace Foods bakery.
Juenger, 48, rebuilt his home in the flood plain after 2011 because of uncertainty over whether the city would have the money to buy him out for the flood protection project. The buyout eventually materialized, though, and in seeking another home, Juenger learned from a cousin about the Resilient Homebuyer Program.
"With that extra bit of help I can get into a home that isn't such a burden on my mortgage," Juenger said.
Sipma said the hope is that 75 to 100 residents will ultimately use the program, which is funded with up to $3 million from the NDR Program.
He called the program another "piece of recovery" from the 2011 flood. It removes people from the flood plain and places them in resilient neighborhoods.
"The big piece of it is peace of mind," he said, "especially after a financial hit that many folks in the valley had. Having that certainty is certainly very important to a lot of residents."
Juenger said that's true for him.
"Every spring I got nervous. I would watch that river ever since the flood. Now I can be up on the hill," he said.
The City of Minot entered into a sub-recipient agreement with the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency to manage the loan underwriting portion of the program and to minimize staffing costs associated with program management. The city reports if it had chosen to create its own program management staff, the cost would have been five times the amount that is being paid to NDHFA.
As of early September, the Resilient Homebuyer Program had 10 other applicants who had passed the initial review and are working with their lenders to secure the additional financing assistance.
The primary qualifications to participate in the Resilient Homebuyer Program are:
- Live in a residence that is being purchased for the city's enhanced flood protection project, or lived in a home or apartment that was substantially damaged by the 2011 Souris River flood.
- Be purchasing a home within the city limits, in a resilient neighborhood outside of the proposed 100-year FEMA flood plain.
- Qualify as having a low to moderate income per Ward County averages based on the number of people living in the household. (For example, a family of five would qualify at $75,300 or less.)
- Secure a 30-year fixed mortgage through a NDHFA participating lender.
The complete set of guidelines and steps needed to fully participate in the Resilient Homebuyer Program can be found at www.cdbg.minotnd.org under "housing."
"It takes some work, but it's worth it," Juenger said.