Nonprofit, state programs expand pathways to affordable homeownership in Wenatchee
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Achieving homeownership can be a lengthy and complex process, particularly for buyers navigating financing and lending options. Community land trusts, down payment assistance programs and state-run mortgage loan programs can help bridge the gap to homeownership.
In November, the median listing price for a home in Wenatchee was $627,500, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Securing financing in a housing market where prices exceed half a million dollars can be difficult. Partnerships among financial institutions, public agencies and nonprofit organizations seek to expand affordable and equitable pathways to homeownership through a range of financing and lending programs.
State Housing Finance Commission
The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, a self-sustaining agency created in 1983 by the state legislature, aims to increase access to homeownership. It partners with the Idaho Housing and Finance Association and several statewide lenders to serve as a master servicer.
Commission Communications Director Margret Graham said the agency was formed in response to high interest rates that made homeownership unattainable for many. Hundreds of commission-trained loan officers across the state work with the commission to offer mortgage loans and down payment assistance programs.
The commission’s two primary mortgage programs are Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity, both paired with the commission’s down payment assistance, which is payment-deferred.
Both loans are 30-year fixed-rate mortgages certified through the Federal Housing Authority, Veterans Affairs, USDA Rural Development, or conventional loans through Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae.
Home Advantage is the commission’s most popular loan. Household income cannot exceed $215,000, and borrowers do not have to be first-time homebuyers. Applicants must complete a commission-sponsored homebuyer education class or have completed one within the last two years and be approved by a commission-trained loan officer.
The House Key Opportunity loan offers favorable terms for first-time homebuyers with low to moderate incomes, or 80% of area median income. Applicants cannot have owned a home in the past three years and must meet household income limits, $118,000 for two-person households and $145,000 for three or more. Borrowers also must complete a homebuyer education class and be approved by a commission-trained loan officer.
The commission’s down payment assistance program can wrap closing costs into the loan, combine with other assistance programs, allow higher loan-to-value ratios and serve a broad range of populations. Eight programs support homebuyers, with an average assistance amount of $15,000.
Local nonprofits such as Columbia Valley Affordable Homeownership and Upper Valley MEND provide down payment assistance and other financing options to low- and moderate-income residents, sometimes enabling homeownership at below-market rates.
Each year, the commission helps more than 5,200 clients statewide purchase homes through the Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity programs. Loan officers in Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties assisted 195 homebuyers between July 2024 and June 2025.
Since 1983 through June 2025, 2,924 homebuyers in those counties have achieved homeownership through the Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity programs.
“We don’t distribute funding, rather, loan officers reserve loans using our online reservation system,” Graham wrote in an email. “After we review the homebuyer’s file for accuracy and eligibility, the loan proceeds to closing.”
The commission draws on several funding sources, including tax-exempt bonds, revolving loan funds, federally guaranteed mortgage-backed securities, client fees and tax credits.
Guild Mortgage
Janie Shrader, a senior loan officer with Guild Mortgage in Wenatchee, regularly works with first-time homebuyers using Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity programs.
Shrader said most of her clients qualify for Home Advantage loans, while local clients are less likely to qualify for House Key Opportunity. About 30% of her clients use Home Advantage loans.
“The difficulty lies in being eligible for both the House Key Opportunity loan and its down payment assistance loan,” Shrader said. Guild also offers its own down payment assistance program in partnership with the Federal Housing Authority.
"We don't have income limits on ours, so there are several different down payment assist options out there, but it just depends on the borrower's specific situation," she said.
Shrader said Wenatchee first-time buyers in the area are typically looking at homes priced between $425,000 and $550,000.
“This last year, first-time homebuyers decided to stop waiting and just get in and get that home before appreciation goes up more,” she said. “I think more than anything, people are finding that prices are still going up in our area.”
Equity in homeownership
The commission advocates for equity in homeownership and works to dismantle barriers tied to systemic racism and housing discrimination.
“People throughout the state of Washington have been shut out of building generational wealth through homeownership,” according to a commission document. “Practices such as redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and much more have been prevalent throughout much of our state’s history.”
The Washington Homeownership Disparities Workgroup was formed in 2021 by the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee. Its 2022 report, Improving Homeownership Rates for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Washington, included 27 policy recommendations to address barriers faced by minoritized groups.
The report identified two primary obstacles: the supply of affordable homes for purchase and access to direct homeownership assistance. It outlined 12 actionable recommendations, including increasing state funding for affordable homeownership programs, boosting direct assistance, expanding technical assistance and streamlining commission and Housing Trust Fund programs.
“Since the publication of the Homeownership Disparities Group recommendations, Commerce has made several accomplishments to increase supply and provide direct assistance,” wrote Amelia Lamb, Commerce media relations manager, in an email.
Funding for capital projects increased by 300%, Lamb wrote, citing gains through state budget appropriations.
“We also had an increase in capital resources — $5 million in the 2019-21 budgets, and $120.9 million in the 2023-25 budgets — a 2,318% increase in resources for homeownership,” Lamb wrote.
To address the main barriers to homeownership, the workgroup is focused on five categories of recommendations: increasing the supply of affordable homes for purchase, expanding the amount and availability of direct homeownership assistance, improving lending products, adjusting existing assistance programs, and focusing on sustaining homeownership.
Community land trusts
Community land trusts provide another path to homeownership. Common Ground Community Housing Trust, created in 2021, aims to help low- to moderate-income residents purchase their first home.
“Our primary goal is to sell these homes to households earning 80% or below of area median income,” Executive Director Thom Nees said. “A Community Land Trust is really simply a community-led development of individually owned homes on community-owned land.”
Community land trusts preserve long-term affordability by selling homes to income-eligible buyers while retaining ownership of the land. Homeowners lease the land at below-market rates under a long-term ground lease, according to Fannie Mae.
Crail Cottages
Common Ground board member Jorden Jessup Bullock credited the Crail family for making Crail Cottages possible.
“It was so monumental that this family was willing to do what they did for our community and for Common Ground, to sell at the price point that they did,” she said. “That's really what got the ball rolling.”
In 2023, Common Ground used American Rescue Plan Act funds administered by Chelan County to purchase 0.4 acres at 1034 Ninth St. in Wenatchee for the project. The development will include eight cottage-style homes, each 970 square feet, with one- and two-bedroom floor plans.
Banner Bank contributed a $20,000 Member Impact Fund grant in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
At nearly 60% completion, Nees expects the first homeowner to move in this summer. Home prices are estimated between $240,000 and $275,000, with a monthly ground lease fee of $75. Several down payment assistance programs, including Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity, are available. Applications can be found at commongroundwenatchee.com.
Jessup Bullock said Common Ground will select homeowners through a lottery system.
"I think it's a really wonderful way to do it because it's fair, because there won't be any one person getting it over another, it's completely random," she said. "We encourage anybody and everybody to apply because we're always trying to hunt for our next project. Even if someone applies and they weren't chosen in this lottery, we'll have their information for our next project."
Housing continuum
Common Ground focuses on first-time homebuyers, a segment Nees says is underserved.
“If you think of housing on a continuum, what is missing on that continuum is definitely first-time home ownership and low-income purchasers,” he said.
Jessup Bullock said the trust ensures costs don’t exceed 33% of income, helping homeowners stay in their homes.
“Common Ground is making sure the cost burden doesn’t exceed 33% making sure that when someone gets in the home, they'll be able to stay in their home, and won't price themselves out with other costs that come with life,” she said.
“We know that we're going to be able to sell these cottage units at about half of what our median house price is in the community,” Nees added.