ONE+ Program Targets First-Time Home Buyers

More Than 200 Families Eligible For $50,000 In Down Payment, Closing Cost Aid

LYNN, MASS., NOV. 25, 2024…..More than 200 low-income families are eligible for down payment and closing cost assistance to purchase their first homes, with the launch of a public-private program intended to close homeownership and racial wealth gaps in Massachusetts.

The ONE+ program, which Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, and other local and state officials announced in Lynn on Monday, expands on the ONE Mortgage Program previously offered by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.

The existing program already offered financial assistance to low-income potential homebuyers, including heavily discounted, fixed, 30-year interest rates; no private mortgage insurance; and a lower down payment requirement. The ONE+ program envisions with up to $50,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance to the limited number of eligible families.

The expansion, called ONE+, is an $11 million effort from The Boston Foundation, Eastern Bank, State Street Bank and the state.

“Our idea was to create equity in underserved, underresourced, historically marginalized communities by boosting home ownership,” Boston Foundation President Lee Pelton told the News Service, saying the goal was to start ONE+ with more funding. 

“The model we developed was that if we could invest $25 million into 500 families with a down payment assistance program, that would produce about $162 million in home equity for these individuals and families over the next decade,” he said. “And that wealth creation, that equity creation, would be important because it allows us to get through hard times and send our kids to college, and so on.”

Though the program is starting with a seed of $11 million, Pelton, Healey and others who spoke at a press conference at the Lynn Housing Authority on Monday called for other philanthropic donations to the effort to reach the intended $25 million.

“And I believe that that $25 million is a floor — it’s not a ceiling,” Pelton said.

Of the $11 million being used to launch the program — which Pelton estimated would help over 200 families buy homes — about $3 million comes from public funds.

Within that $3 million, $2.275 million is what’s left of the remaining American Rescue Plan Act federal COVID relief dollars allocated to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Another $600,000 is from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.

“These aren’t handouts,” Healey said. “The [return on investment]… it’s real. It’s real.”

David Jilles Jr., a Lynn resident who recently bought his home with assistance from the MassDREAMS grant, said at the press conference that he never thought he would be able to afford to buy a house.

“The expansion of programs like the ONE+ Mortgage means more people like me who go to work every day and contribute to our communities and achieve homeownership. Lynn with its arts and charm, waterfront, and diverse community, was the perfect place for me to call home. As a musician and teacher, finding a vibrant, creative community aligned with my values was a dream come true,” Jilles said.

Healey pointed to Jilles as an example of the “return on investment” for the state.

“Think about what he’s doing. He’s teaching young people at Berkley College of Music, one of our elite institutions that attracts people to Massachusetts,” Healey said. “He just put on ‘Spongebob’ over at Wheelock Children’s Theater. Amazing, right? Inspiring young people.”

Eastern Bank put $4 million towards the program, according to the bank. Pelton said roughly $2 million came from the Boston Foundation, and $1 million from State Street.

To qualify, families or individuals must have less than $100,000 in total household assets. This includes any checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks or bonds, but does not include most retirement or college savings accounts. Total income limits vary depending on community, but can be found online.

The program is also restricted to 29 cities: Attleboro, Barnstable, Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Randolph, Revere, Salem, Springfield, Taunton, Westfield, or Worcester.

Applicants must be a first-time homebuyer, take a homebuyer class, and meet a 3 percent down payment requirement with at least 1.5 percent of the purchase price from their own savings. Families or individuals also must agree to live in the property as their primary residence.

Driscoll, who was the mayor of Salem, next door to Lynn, for 17 years, said she has seen housing costs price people out of mid-sized cities where they want to stay and raise their families.

“Communities that used to be livable, that were the affordable places to live, frankly too often they’re not affordable anymore. Just as your city hits its stride, you begin to see who’s being harmed by these high costs of housing, the very people you rely on — workers, seniors, recent graduates. The people who are making our cities great are having a real hard time staying,” Driscoll said.

She later added, “This is what people want who are living in these communities: to own a piece of the place they love.”