Our Approach

Ground Rent is driven to prioritize creating below-market-rate units to address housing affordability for moderate-income individuals and families. The mixed-income development approach helps maintain financial sustainability while supporting the social mission. While offering owner financing as a tool to make homeownership accessible to buyers through flexible terms, lower down payments, and reduced interest rates.

The Vision for Reinvigorating the American Dream

Our primary approach is building multiunit homes designed to resemble single-family houses to address housing needs while maintaining neighborhood aesthetics. These homes are designed to blend seamlessly into areas traditionally dominated by single-family homes, preventing stark visual contrasts that can lead to community opposition.
Key strategies include:
- Architectural Design: Mimicking the appearance of single-family homes with varied rooflines, distinct facades, and private entrances. This helps reduce the stigma often associated with higher-density housing.
- Efficient Land Use: Attached homes allow for more units per acre, making land development more cost-effective and providing more housing in high-demand areas.
- Affordability: Sharing walls between units reduces construction and maintenance costs. These homes can offer high-quality living spaces at lower prices compared to detached single-family homes.
- Zoning Compatibility: They can often fit within existing zoning laws for single-family neighborhoods, especially in areas with flexible regulations like "missing middle housing" zoning.

These homes provide a balance between increasing housing supply and maintaining the character of established neighborhoods, making them an effective solution to the growing need for affordable housing.

The Financing Win-Win: Supporting Affordability and Agency Sustainability

All properties offer an owner financing option. Instead of obtaining a mortgage from a traditional bank, the buyer enters into a mortgage transaction with Ground Rent. According to Investopedia, owner-financed sales are quicker and cheaper, notably with lower closing costs and other associated costs such as private mortgage insurance (PMI).

Key benefits include:

- Affordability: Owner financing allows the agency to set interest rates which may be less than market rate mortgages. The agency has fewer fees and processes, reducing overall mortgage origination and closing costs. Private mortgage insurance is not mandatory and may be waived.

- Flexibility: Ground Rent has more flexibility around refinancing and alternative payment options during times of financial difficulty.

- Sustainability: The interest payments become a source of revenue for the agency to use to grow and develop more properties.