There’s help for first-time homebuyers

If you do live in Rochester, you may know how broken the housing system is. The apartments have many issues. They have dirt covered walls, the ceilings are moldy, the paint is cracked and messed up, the landlord doesn’t come when you need help, or the rent is too high. It’s so hard to look up from living in an old, dingey, apartment that desperately needs to be worked on to eventually getting a nice house that you will own yourself. I’ve been there before and now my family are homeowners. We used our resources to help us, and they could help you too.

While the challenges of affordable housing are seen everywhere, lack of home ownership in Rochester stems from a deeper pattern of economic disparity, systemic barriers, and limited access to financial resources. According to Rochester homeownership data, “Both Black and Latino households have significantly lower homeownership rates at 28.5 percent and 26.3 percent respectively, compared to 46.4 percent for their white counterparts.” This highlights a significant issue of inequity in homeownership access. According to Democrat and Chronicle, the City of Rochester’s housing market study indicates that 61.6% of renters struggle with unaffordable housing costs, exceeding 30% of their income. Additionally, many tenants report their landlords not having proper permits to house tenants, and neglecting their tenants. Many of these renters in Rochester don’t have enough money to pay for rent, food and other necessities. Many of these issues tie back to Black and Latino households not having the same resources as white households. These issues could lead to homelessness, which has increased by 41% since 2022.

Many Rochester residents can relate to having or seeing someone paying a crazy rent price for a poor apartment. I personally have experienced living in an apartment that needed so much work and our landlord would do the bare minimum to help us as his tenants. But, my mom was working hard and using her resources to get a house, and we did. We went from an apartment where there were mice, and we constantly complained to our landlord about the leaky ceilings, the terrible paint jobs and the undone creaky floors, to a nice house in a nice neighborhood with none of the issues we constantly complained about while living in the apartment.

You may ask, what can I do to help the individuals who struggle in finding an affordable home? Rochester has many resources to help first time homeowners, such as the Homebuyer Dream Program by ESL where first time homebuyers can get up to a $20,000 grant. There is also the First Time Home Buyers Program where you can get up to a $30,000 grant. According to an article called, Guide to first-time homebuyer loans and programs by Bankrate, “First-time buyer loans typically have more affordable rates and more flexible requirements, such as a lower minimum down payment or credit score. Many help buyers afford the costs of closing and the down payment through grants and low-interest loans.” These resources can actually help you, as long as you make the effort to use them. Both of these programs are two of many that can help renters who may be struggling and are looking to buy a home.

While it may seem like such a terrifying experience to try to buy a house, and you find it hard to think about buying a house when you are struggling simply renting an apartment, there are many resources in Rochester that can help you, and it’s important to try to use them. While I have been in the situation of crappy landlords, my family used their resources to successfully buy a house.

Gypsy Malave
East High School student

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