Affordable homes. Stronger communities.
Households earning around $60,000 a year sit in a stubborn gap: too wealthy for subsidy programs, too stretched for today's mortgage math. This opinion piece examines why the 'forgotten middle' keeps falling through the cracks and which cities are finally piloting solutions built for them.
Across the United States, tenants routinely pay more each month than their landlords spend on the mortgage — money that vanishes instead of accumulating as equity. This piece examines how well-structured lease-purchase programs could redirect those dollars toward ownership, and what safeguards are needed to make that promise real.
Every year, millions of dollars in down payment assistance sit unused in city and state budgets simply because eligible buyers never apply. We break down how these programs work, who qualifies, and a step-by-step process for finding and stacking local grants.
Community land trusts are helping moderate-income families buy homes in markets where prices once made ownership unthinkable. We explain the ground-lease model, follow one family's path to their first keys, and share a practical checklist for finding a CLT near you.