Emily and Phillip Ross have lived in Heber City for three years. Already, they’re certain they want to spend the rest of their lives there.
“Heber is just perfect. All the parks, the access to the lakes, the camping, hunting, golf, especially, and all the things we have going on in the city center area and city park is just phenomenal,” Phillip said. “We just love it.”
The couple lived in Provo but dreamed of moving to Heber City. They were able to move into an apartment but thought they would be “forever renters,” given the local home prices.
The Rosses recently put themselves on a track to homeownership through Utah Housing Corporation’s Credits to Own, or CROWN, program.
CROWN allows qualifying tenants to rent units owned by Utah Housing Corporation for 15 years. After that period, the tenants can buy the home for less than market rate.
The Utah Housing Corporation on Tuesday celebrated the ribbon-cutting of six new four-bedroom, two-bathroom CROWN townhomes in Heber City.
Emily and Phillip will pay a little under $1,800 per month. Most of the townhomes of a similar size they had looked at in Heber City were around $2,500 per month.
“You’re not home, poor. You’re able to still live and function because, when you have to pay those astronomical rents or mortgages, you’re eating ramen noodles every day,” Emily said. “Plus, it gives you 15 years to really focus on your credit and your budgeting.”
The tenants of these six townhomes will be able to purchase their home in 2041 for around $300,000, according to CROWN program manager Scott Harmon.
“(When) you think how prices keep going up, $300,000 would be affordable today, but it would be really affordable in 15 years,” he said.
CROWN is available to tenants making 55% of the area median income, which is about $75,000 for a family of four in Wasatch County.
Much of the funding for these townhomes came from Bank of Utah, which purchased federal low-income housing tax credits from Utah Housing Corporation for about $2.1 million to cover most of the construction costs, Harmon explained. The rest will be repaid by the tenant’s rent.
Utah Housing Corporation has run CROWN since 1993 and built over 500 homes in the program throughout the state. About 75% of tenants purchase their homes after 15 years, according to Harmon.
As program manager, Harmon has heard plenty of success stories from tenants. For example, a woman was living in her car before renting and eventually bought her home through the CROWN program.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Harmon said. “This is an opportunity for the missing middle, for the people who can’t afford to purchase a home any other way.”
Utah Housing Corporation hopes to build another six CROWN townhomes in Heber City in a few years, Harmon said. The first CROWN homes in Wasatch County were the six Wheeler Park townhomes near the Heber Valley Airport. Those hit the 15-year mark about two years ago, and all six tenants bought their homes for around $110,000, according to Emily, who was the property manager.
She’s also the property manager for three other affordable housing communities in Heber City: Elmbridge Apartments and the Prestige I and II senior apartments.
“What we need here in Heber is more affordable housing, especially for senior citizens, in my opinion, because my wait lists are quite long. Two years long,” she said.
That’s why Mountainlands Community Housing Trust donated the six lots for the CROWN townhomes to Utah Housing Corporation. They’re part of the 49-lot Parkview Place subdivision that Mountainlands Community Housing Trust established in 2017. There are now 18 lots left.
Executive Director Jason Glidden said Mountainlands Community Housing Trust’s vision for the subdivision was a variety of affordable housing types to meet Heber City residents’ diverse needs.
Other lots have been donated to Self-Help Homes, which allows residents to build their own homes for a lower purchase price, and to the Wasatch County School District to continue its student-run homebuilding program, which houses school district employees.
“Having housing for the local workforce is such an important piece of the community. It helps to build the community, sustain the community, not only just by having folks here long-term and full-time, but also economically,” Glidden said. “I think that the more and more we can continue to provide these opportunities, the better off we’re going to be.”