HomeSight

Real estate development: part of Homesight's strategy is to use affordable commercial and residential real estate development to stimulate economic growth in communities where equitable investment is lagging and build household assets for low income and first-time home buyers. Homesight real estate development also provides project management services to community nonprofit organizations to assist in community development and neighborhood revitalization activities. Homesight was the lead developer and project manager for the transit- oriented development of othello square (formerly the southeast economic opportunity center (seoc)) in seattle. Homesight completed the feasibility and implementation plan for the project in 2017. The goals of this 215m project are to prevent displacement of the historic residents and businesses in the othello neighborhood, to celebrate and embrace the heritage of the different cultures that comprise the southeast seattle community, and to provide tools and opportunities to guarantee the long-term health and success of the entire community. With the assistance of several community-led coalitions actively involved in equitable development in southeast seattle, Homesight has been leading a dedicated and robust community engagement process throughout the program planning to ensure that the othello square best meets the needs and vision of the community. Homesight signed all four purchase and sale agreements (psas) on the properties in 2018 for the othello square project with the seattle housing authority (sha). Homesight also entered into assignment agreements for two of the properties to be owned and developed as part of the project by two local organizations. The odessa brown children's clinic, tiny tots othello square and orenda apartments building broke ground in november 2019 and the salish sea elementary school broke ground in july 2020. Both buildings are now open and operating. In 2021, Homesight assigned the psa for the 3rd property to community roots housing, a local affordable housing developer and provider of affordable rental units. They will develop this property and own and manage the affordable rental units it will contain. The building will be called the opportunity center @ othello square and completion is tentatively scheduled for 2028. Homesight will purchase and build out the 1st floor as community-serving commercial spaces that will be sold to local community serving organizations. Homesight will relocate its offices to the opportunity center. The property purchase for the 4th psa will be finalized once all closing conditions are met. Homesight is developing a low-income limited equity housing cooperative on the 4th remaining property called ?l?x? (u-lex, pronounced "oh-lew") @ othello square. The project is applying for fha-insured construction financing and has equity from local, state and federal sources already secured. This project is fully permitted and entitled and is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Community development: with a history of cross-sector collaboration, expertise in policy and advocacy, and a track record of equitable development, Homesight is recognized as a catalytic community leader. For over 30 years, Homesight has facilitated beautification and infrastructure improvement projects, managed the development of cultural centers, supported local business organizations, and led coalitions promoting equitable growth in southeast seattle, the city's most racially and ethnically diverse community. Homesight established three community development activities in 2023: 1) essential southeast seattle cooperative (eses). At the start of the covid- 19 pandemic, this program was developed to provide an online directory of small, independently owned businesses located in southeast seattle that were open for business and deemed essential by Washington state. As the pandemic progressed and the need became apparent, eses was transformed into an online marketplace representing over 2,000 businesses and serving more than 30,000 consumers. In addition to the online marketplace eses collective designed and implemented a digital access and education program to coach small bipoc owned businesses to be more competitive in the digital marketplace; 2) nonprofit delivery app - post covid 19 pandemic has instigated consumer behavioral change of on-demand food delivery. Existing delivery options are financially unsustainable for business owners and drivers and offer low attention to unique bipoc needs. An alternative delivery option will capture market demands and serve desired needs to local ecosystem. A hyper local delivery app with reduced commission, higher driver payout and curated resources is the solution we are seeking. 3) ready to work (rtw) - rtw is a partnership with community-based organizations and an adult basic education community-based providing esl courses and job training and placement in southeast seattle. The rtw partnership, is now merging with two other basic education programs in north and west seattle, where Homesight will continue to serve as the lead agency providing administrative support. The partners are adding new pathways to the program such as the childcare cobort through the imagine institute. It has proven successful with 100% graduation rate and 85% employment.

Homebuyer services & lending: Homesight's homebuyer education and counseling programs serve nearly 350 households annually, including new and existing customers. In 2023 and 2022, of these customers, 85% and 64% respectively, were at or below 80% percent of the area median income. Homesight's mission is to serve primarily low- and moderate-income families wishing to purchase their first home, but as a hud-certified housing counseling agency, it cannot discriminate based on income. Its homebuyer program consists of one-on-one counseling, and no-cost classes on achieving the dream of homeownership, or an online buyer education curriculum for a nominal fee. -- Homesight developed its revolving loan fund in 1991 to address the growing gap between family incomes and home prices. It offers purchase assistance loans funded by public and private investments to package highly competitive amortizing or deferred second loans and deferred third loans for low- and moderate-income homebuyers. This structure allows Homesight to minimize or eliminate the requirement for fha or private mortgage insurance for its customers thereby increasing the buying power of low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers. -- Homesight is a "correspondent" 1st mortgage lender to the Washington state housing finance commission, a local community bank, and a neighborworks america partner. In 2023 and 2022, Homesight originated over 16.7 million and 18.5 million in 1st mortgage loans with its capital primarily for subsequent sale to these lenders. Through these channels Homesight provides quality, low-interest down-payment options and more flexible case-by-case underwriting that allows many mortgage-eligible customers to access credit that would not be available to them otherwise. In 2020, Homesight was approved by the us department of treasury - cdfi fund to expand the target market to african americans (aa) in king, pierce, and snohomish counties. Since this addition, Homesight has fought against redlining and gentrification of aa's in the seattle area by introducing lending programs such as the sam smith hi neighbor homeownership fund (sshnhf) and the social justice (sj) dpa program. The sshnhf helps aa's between 80-120% area median income, purchase homes across Washington state by offering down payment assistance up to 20,000 at 3% deferred for 30 years. Homesight has partnered with windermere, us bank, and nareb to pioneer this innovative program. As housing prices continue to skyrocket and interest rates creep up, Homesight has made it a mission to support bipoc communities. Homesight is supporting bipoc first time home buyers by offering the social justice dpa program. The program includes 10,000 deferred down payment assistance at 0% for 30 years. The 3 million sj dpa fund will help 300 bipoc families purchase homes in Washington state. In 2021, Homesight launched a couple of different mortgage loans programs to further support bipoc communities. Homesight now offers a vista (itin) loan program and a sharia compliant loan program. The vista loan is aimed at helping those without traditional social security numbers purchase homes. The vista loan program only requires a 5% down payment by the borrower. This is much friendlier than the other itin programs around which require 10-30% down. Homesight was also approved by the Washington state housing finance commission to fund and sell sharia compliant first mortgages. There is a large islamic population in seattle that need support in purchasing first homes. Homesight was exclusively approved by the wshfc to offer these loans. Homesight partnered with ijara cdc to offer this innovative, interest free and sharia compliant loans. Together with our partners we hope to make a difference for first-time homebuyers in this ever-challenging housing market in Washington state.