For almost a decade, William Whichard lived in what was, for him, the perfect home in the perfect College Park, Maryland, neighborhood.
鈥淎nd I wanted to stay,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he neighborhood suits me, really, from day one. The first night I sat out here in the evening and appreciated the quiet.鈥�
Over the last year or so he tried to figure out how to buy that home 鈥� not looking anywhere else.
But with housing costing what it does, finding a way to afford it was a different story. Then he and Sean Murphy, his longtime friend who used to own the home, heard about the Community Preservation Trust, a program within the College Park City-University Partnership.
鈥淲e buy homes at market price and then we sell them,鈥� explained Daniel Cunningham, the executive director of the trust. 鈥淭hrough a shared equity arrangement we sell them at a discount to the owner. The Trust retains the land and the owners buys the home, which means their dollar goes farther and we can increase the pool of homeowners in the city of College Park.鈥�
It鈥檚 a land trust program that鈥檚 not too common in College Park, though it is in other parts of the state.
鈥淚t means that as an affordable housing land trust, we have an opportunity for a 99-year affordable land trust agreement, which means that we have a right of first refusal to purchase it from them,鈥� said Cunningham. 鈥淭hen we have a shared equity arrangement so that they get the upside, but they鈥檙e also willing to pay some of it forward to the next homeowner who will also be an affordable homeowner.鈥�
Murphy
鈥淢y foundation supports these types of things, so for me it just fit directly in with my values and what I鈥檝e been up to for the last six or seven years,鈥� said Murphy. 鈥淭his type of program is absolutely perfect.鈥�
He said the only difference between selling a home to the Trust and selling it to a more traditional owner was the time it took to close, since this was the first home bought by the Trust. Since then, two other homes have also been purchased and the Community Preservation Trust is actively looking for buyers who qualify.
鈥淭he College Park Community Preservation Trust is a $15 million effort to secure affordable homeownership opportunities here in the city,鈥� said Susan Hartman, the executive director of the Partnership.
鈥淏y facilitating homeownership opportunities here we鈥檙e really supporting the economic mobility of families to be able to move forward financially, not just now, but even inter-generationally, passing that on to their children or the assets they鈥檙e able to save over time through homeownership.鈥�
