How Carver County CDA Helps First-Time Homebuyers Get Into $400,000 Homes

Описание: Ever wonder how young families can afford to buy a home in Carver County when the median price is approaching $500,000? In this episode, I sit down with Melodie Bridgeman from the Carver County Community Development Agency to pull back the curtain on programs most residents don't even know exist.
Melodie walks us through the CDA's down payment assistance program offering up to $50,000 in forgivable loans, explains how the Community Land Trust model lets families buy into neighborhoods they couldn't otherwise afford, and shares the remarkable story behind Chaska Yards—a project that involved moving a 150-year-old yellow brick house at half a mile per hour, an unfortunate gecko-related fire, and archaeologists digging up 1,900 artifacts from an old outhouse pit.
Full disclosure: I served nine years on the CDA board, so this conversation gets into the weeds on how these programs actually work and why they matter for our community.
In This Episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:49 What does the CDA actually do?
2:15 How the CDA has evolved over 45 years
3:51 Who the CDA serves (hint: it's not just low-income residents)
5:44 Down payment assistance: Up to $50,000 for first-time buyers
7:17 Eligibility requirements and income limits
8:01 First-time vs. first-generation homebuyer programs
11:18 HomeStretch class: What buyers actually learn
14:02 Community Land Trust explained: Own a $400K home at a $250K price
17:08 How capital improvements work in a land trust
19:54 Chaska Yards: The full story
25:11 Moving the Ernst House (and holding our breath)
28:08 The gecko lamp fire that changed everything
31:38 What made this project worth the challenges
35:18 Section 8 and rental assistance demystified
39:32 Why landlords should consider voucher programs
44:27 Resources for homeowners facing financial trouble
46:29 Next Stage: Free business support for Carver County entrepreneurs
51:18 What Melodie wishes more people knew about the CDA
52:41 What's ahead for affordable housing in Carver County
Resources Mentioned:
→ Carver County CDA: CarverCDA.org
→ Next Stage Minnesota: NextStageMN.org
→ Down Payment Assistance Program (reopening Feb/March 2025)
→ HomeStretch first-time homebuyer classes
Connect:
→ Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping Carver County
→ Questions about local real estate? Reach out: Greg Anderson, RE/MAX Advisors West

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