The Kent School District announced Wednesday its partnership with Landed, a down payment assistance and home-buyer education program aimed at helping public school teachers and staff afford to buy homes.<\/p>\n
The program, the district explained, provides half of the down payment on a home, up to $120,000 per family, in exchange for a portion of the change in the value of the home when the home is sold. Any gains from this assistance will be re-invested to support an ever-growing number of educators. Landed’s down payment support will be available to all faculty, administrators and staff who have worked for the district for at least two years.<\/p>\n
“As the cost of housing in the Kent area continues to rise, too many of our educators are finding it harder to afford homes in the area,” said Kent School District Superintendent Calvin Watts. “We believe Landed will be a valuable solution to help improve school recruitment and retention by providing educators with a new option to help make home ownership more accessible.”<\/p>\n
Since its founding in 2015, Landed said it has helped more than 150 educators purchase homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle. Landed launched in the Seattle area with Bellevue School District last October, and six Seattle area educators have already successfully purchased homes through the program.<\/p>\n