KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More people will be able to become homeowners through a new program launching Tuesday.
The program is called Welcome Home Kansas City.
It's a down payment assistance program through Enterprise Bank & Trust and CHES, Inc.
The new program provides a grant to help new homeowners with their down payment and closing costs.
Enterprise Bank would cover a portion of the down payment up to three percent and a portion of closing costs up to $1,000.
"With this activity and rehab of different properties happening in different parts of the city, the nice part is the folks that are living there, if we can get them into home ownership opportunities, they don't have to worry about rent going up so we can stabilize their home costs," CHES Inc. Co-Founder Ron Farmer said.
Welcome Home Kansas City is not a government program. Enterprise Community Development Vice President Monica Campbell said because of this, new homeowners are able to use additional assistance outside of the program.
"These are funds that are used strictly by Enterprise Bank, but it can be coupled with a first-time home buyer or MHDC funds as well," Campbell said. "So if you qualify for one of those programs and ours, you can use both funds."
Campbell said this program, which originated in St. Louis, is a game changer for Kansas City.
"It affects the educational system, it affects real estate taxes, they increase," Campbell said. "So those funds go towards roads and construction, beautifying the neighborhood, and people just tend to care, lower crime rates."
The program is only available in majority-minority census tracts in the Kansas City metro, which means its focus is primarily on neighborhoods where minorities are the majority.
Though the program isn't ZIP code specific, there is a way to see if an address qualifies:
Go to www.ffiec.gov
- Choose “Geocoding/Mapping System”
- Enter property address in the “Address” field and click “Search”
- Choose “Census Demographic Data”
- Choose “Population”
- Look at the tract population number and if the minority population number is more than 50% of the tract population number, then it qualifies
Here's the criteria to apply:
- Individual or household income does not exceed $79,900 per year
- Down Payment Assistance is not to exceed $10,000
- Borrower must attend financial education classes through local HUD-approved provider
- Offer of credit is subject to credit approval
To apply and learn more, contact Enterprise Mortgage Loan Officer Matthew Girrens at 913-791-9121, or email mgirrens@enterprisebank.com.
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