Habitat for Humanity - Twin Cities

An organization committed to building the quality of life, health and prosperity of the region through the production and preservation of homeownership - because homes and families are the foundation of successful communities. They provide Affordability (at or below 30% of your household income). Free one-on-one financial coaching focuses on your budget, and helps home buyers pay down debt, understand credit, and save for the future.

NeighborWorks Home Partners

The NeighborWorks Home Partners (formerly Community Neighborhood Housing Services) has been in operation for over 30 years. They have worked on providing home ownership services and programs to potential home buyers in St. Paul and its surrounding communities. Their goal is to revitalize the Twin Cities area and help families build wealth through home ownership. This group has invested more than $166 million in Twin Cities’ neighborhoods. Although certified to provide housing counseling and education in the entire 7-county Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, they are Saint Paul-focused, but often have funding available for areas outside of the city as well. They also have special programming focused on the Frogtown neighborhood, and often for other neighborhoods as well. Your individual circumstances will determine eligibility for these programs.

NeighborhoodLIFT Program

NeighborhoodLIFT provides eligible homebuyers with matching funds up to $7,500 of down payment assistance on qualified properties. The program includes homebuyer education that will prepare you for finding and financing a home and for managing the financial responsibilities of homeownership.

• Assistance is not limited to first-time buyers
• Borrowers’ annual income in combination with household size must be at or below 80% of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Median Income (AMI) guidelines.
• A complete list of participating partner lenders is available here.

Properties qualified for the program must be:

• Within city limits of Minneapolis or Saint Paul.
• The primary, owner-occupied home of the buyer(s)
• A detached home, townhouse, condominium, 1-4 unit property, Planned Unit Development

Rondo Community Land Trust

Home Buyer Initiated Program (HIP)

HIP is an exciting home ownership program for low to moderate-income households. Through HIP, participating households receive two grants to help them purchase and rehab a home in Ramsey County. For houses purchased in the City of Saint Paul, the household needs to purchase a vacant home. For houses purchased in the rest of Ramsey County, the family can choose from any house on the open real estate market. The grants are used to reduce the amount a household needs to close on a home, and to ensure that the home purchased is structurally and mechanically safe and sound.

HIP Down Payment and Closing Cost Grant

HIP provides $15,000 to $25,000 in grant money to write down the purchase price of a house currently for sale in Ramsey County. The amount of the grant depends on need and eligibility of selected buyers.

CityLiving Program

CityLiving is a program sponsored by the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul that provides mortgage financing and also offers special assistance for down payment and closing cost. The program is restricted to first-time home buyers (which means they have not owned the house they have lived in over the past three years), unless the house is located in a target area* (A lender will be able to determine whether the house is in a target area based on the census tract.) or unless one of the borrowers is qualified veteran. Purchase price and income limits apply.

Minnesota Housing Community Activity Set Aside (CASA) Program (City and State wide)

Offered by Minnesota Housing, the Community Activity Set Aside (CASA) program is a first-time home buyer loan program that helps low to moderate income Minnesotans buy a home. The affordable, low, fixed interest rates are available to eligible home buyers through lenders participating in initiatives in several communities around the state. Home buyer education is required for all borrowers receiving a CASA loan.

Workforce Housing:

• New construction in target counties: Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington, Wright
• New construction in approved developments
• Homes sold by government or non-profit agencies
• Homes with long-term affordability including Community Land Trust and deed restricted homes
• Approved employer-based initiatives
• Neighborhood/Community revitalization efforts.

MCASA, LLC (Model Cities Community Development Corporation & Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corp.)

MCASA Homes develops new-construction and rehabilitation home-ownership opportunities that target families with annual household incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (no more than $62,000). MCASA Homes markets to families who have had previous difficulty qualifying for conventional mortgage financing, primarily due to debt-related issues and/or low credit scores. Consequently, these families require support services (e.g., home ownership training, housing counseling and debt counseling) in order to stabilize their finances and prepare them for home ownership. MCASA Homes are sold on either a contract-for-deed or a lease-to-purchase basis, depending on the needs of the purchaser. MCASA has constructed six single-family homes located in the Summit-University neighborhood, which are currently occupied.