A1Affordable housing program
One young family a year, one foreclosed home, a key handed over.
“We are on a mission to help young families attain the DREAM of home ownership and begin their legacy of generational wealth!”
That is the mission statement on the studio's own page for the program. It started with a mother watching her son try to buy, and it turned into a plan Melissa Brewer and the M.B. Designs team are building one house at a time.
B2Our vision
Why Melissa built it.
In her words, from the program page
“Watching my son enter the housing market in 2020 was almost paralyzing. As a pre-qualified buyer, I watched him make offers on multiple homes only to be outbid by families moving to our valley from more affluent neighborhoods. The seller's market was booming and well-established buyers were creating bidding wars, far exceeding the asking price of homes.”
“I felt helpless as a parent watching my son work two jobs and not be able to keep up with the market. And today…in 2023, it's the interest rates that have determined his family can only qualify for properties in unsafe neighborhoods for houses that FAR exceed their true value.”
Her answer was a plan rather than a complaint: “So, we came up with a plan.” A design and remodel firm already knows how to take a rough house to a finished one. The program points that skill at a family who is stuck between two doors.
C3The plan
Bridging a gap, on purpose.
“We are determined to bridge that gap.” The program is meant to be duplicated, so many deserving young families can eventually be handed keys.
- P·1
One family a year
The goal is to help one young family every year be part of remodeling a foreclosed home. One home, done properly, then the next year the program does it again.
- P·2
Pre-qualified, with sweat equity
Each family comes pre-qualified for a mortgage and contributes sweat equity, working on their own home alongside the trade partners.
- P·3
Applied for like Habitat for Humanity
Families apply in a similar fashion as they would to Habitat for Humanity: an application, a written essay and interviews to see if it is a good fit.
- P·4
The gap in the middle
These are families positioned between OVER-qualifying for Habitat opportunities and UNDER-qualifying to afford a home in a safe neighborhood. The program is built for exactly that gap.
D4The first project
A Selah foreclosure, in the 2023 Tour of Homes.
In 2022, M. Brewer Properties purchased a foreclosure in Selah, Washington, in hopes of finding a gem. It was an 11th hour decision that M.B. Designs could enter the home in the 2023 Tour of Homes.
The result earned M.B. Designs the Central Washington Home Builders Association 2023 Remodeler of the Year, in their first attempt at battling affordable housing. The studio says the remodel happened at an extraordinary pace because of the trade partners involved and “the humanity pulling together to make this dream a reality.”
E5Coming soon
The application details are still being written.
The studio's page promises a detailed outline of the process, to include the application, the written essay, and interviews to see if it is a good fit. That outline is not published yet, so there is no form to fill out and no deadline to quote. In their words: “We look forward to being able to help and we ask for prayers and support while we figure out this journey!”
Questions about the program?
Call the studio. Appointments run Monday to Thursday, 7:30am to 5:00pm, at 11 South 7th Avenue in downtown Yakima.