A limited number of below-market homes are currently available through the Employer Purchasing Assistance Program. See below for details.
Farmhouse
These larger units are ready to welcome your family, with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, and full basements for storage and future living space. Each unit has a detached one-vehicle garage. Available for $360,000.
Bungalow
The 2-bedroom Bungalow offers efficient, first-level living with a full basement for storage and room to grow. Available for $350,000.
Employer Purchasing Assistance Program
Headwaters Community Housing Trust has launched a new program to help employers that are facing acute challenges of employee retention and recruitment due to high housing costs. The program provides both a means and a local match for an employer to facilitate an employee’s purchase of a new, quality-built home adjacent to Story Mill Community Park for approximately half of Bozeman’s median price.
Program fundamentals
- Eligibility: Employee’s household income must be no greater than 120% of Area Median Income – approximately $152,000
- Total investment: A $50,000 investment by the employer, combined with a $50,000 local match, leverage additional capital contributions to reduce the market-rate price of the homes from $665,000 to $355,000.
- The employer’s investment secures a guaranteed opportunity for their income-eligible employee to purchase the below-market home. The employee’s purchase is “arm’s length” from the employer; the employee must qualify for a loan; the home will be theirs.
- The employer retains a first right of purchase for 30 years. If the employee sells the home at some point, the employer can again provide an opportunity to purchase a below-market home to another employee.
Program background
Headwaters’ new program is modeled after a successful program developed in 2008 by the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust to raise essential capital to create new affordable housing opportunities and help local employers secure stable housing for their employees. In Bozeman, this program raises essential capital, facilitates workforce homeownership, and empowers employers to overcome recruitment and retention challenges via smart investments in housing.
Headwaters Community Housing Trust is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating a thriving community through an expanded supply of quality housing that residents can afford to purchase. A ground lease assigns the Housing Trust a first right to purchase whenever one of its below-market homes transfers, allowing the Housing Trust to assure that the home remains affordable and is sold to an income-eligible buyer. This ensures public and private investments in housing affordability are preserved in perpetuity.
The Employer Purchasing Assistance Program allows employers to acquire this first right of purchase so that one of their income-eligible employees can buy a below-market Housing Trust home. Rather than having to compete with as many as 200 other buyers, the employee gains certain access to a homeownership opportunity they can afford.
The program thus creates a crucial means for Bozeman employers to address acute retention and recruitment challenges and simultaneously helps finance a larger supply of permanently affordable homes for Bozeman’s workers.
Read more about the program in this 8/29/23 Bozeman Chronicle article: Bozeman housing trust launching employee housing program
Employer benefits
- Retain and recruit critical, experienced employees.
- Facilitate employee access to well-designed, durable, and efficient homes at prices well below market.
- Outsource all administration and management to the Housing Trust.
- Minimize financial risk and exposure, eliminate carrying costs (e.g., property taxes and insurance) and additional capital expenditures typically associated with residential development.
- Each right of purchase remains with the employer for 30 years and can be used for a new employee when the home is sold.
Employee benefits
- Employees generally prefer that their home and employment are not connected, a separation built into the program.
- Employees build equity.
- There are no taxable implications for employees with the program; by contrast, housing stipends and housing allowances are treated as taxable benefits.
Note for prospective homebuyers:
Here is what you need to know to buy a Headwaters home. These homes will be priced significantly below market for income-eligible households. The homes differ from market-rate homes in the following respects:
- You own the home and lease the land, which is held in trust for the community.
- When you sell your home, you keep your equity and a percentage of the home’s increased value.
- You must reside in the home as your primary residence.
For more information, visit our FAQ page.