Public school teachers and faculty in the Portland area may be eligible to have half of the down payment on a home paid for them, thanks to the recent partnership of Landed and Multnomah County. 

Landed, a homeownership investment startup, first launched in 2015 with the goal of helping educators afford homes in the communities in which they work.

With backing from Y Combinator, affordable housing policy experts, union organizers, philanthropists and Stanford economists, Landed got to work in the Bay Area of California in the fall of 2016. Along the way, the startup received $5 million pledge from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2017 specifically to support the startup’s efforts to help teachers afford homes in the Bay Area.

The startup pays half of the standard down payment (up to $120,000), in exchange for a return on its investment: 25% of the appreciation gain when the property is sold. If the home goes down in value, Landed shoulders the loss. To be eligible, all faculty, administrators, and staff who have worked for a public school or district in Multnomah County must have worked there for at least two years.

“Our mission is to help essential professionals afford to build financial security in the communities they serve, and we know that educators across the Pacific Northwest, especially in expensive urban areas like Portland, need support,” said Landed Co-founder Alex Lofton. “We want to be partners in the homebuying journey and help give families hope that their dream of homeownership can be a reality.”

In the spring of 2018, its services where available in Southern California and Denver, followed by Seattle later that fall.  Earlier this year, the company announced its expansion into Hawaii.

For these areas, Landed offers school teachers in grades K-12 and college professors and staff the opportunity to take on an investor to afford a down payment.

Now, thanks to its partnership with Multnomah County, Landed will be available to Portland-area educators and staff.

“We are pleased to identify innovative ways to support our educators’ ability to participate in homeownership, particularly in the very communities where they provide their services,” said Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero.