Community Land Trust model helps Raleigh veteran achieve homeownership ...Middle East

James Watson stands outside his home. (Photo: Greg Childress)

It’s been a about two years since Army veteran James Watson moved into his neat, three-bedroom, traditional ranch-style home in southeast Raleigh.

On a visit in late February, the home, which Watson purchased through the Raleigh Area Land Trust, looked as though the proverbial GI party had taken place the night before — it was spotless and in perfect order.

The house was gutted and remodeled before Watson took ownership. He eagerly showed it off, first pointing out the modern kitchen, then taking a visitor to see each room. In a bedroom he uses for an office, Watson proudly shared family pictures and prized photos he took with former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

A dream come true

From Watson’s perspective, all that has happened to him over the past two-plus years has been nothing short of a miracle.  

The maintenance supervisor for a Raleigh housing provider and freelance handyman had been a renter his entire adult life. He lived a good chunk of it in Walnut Terrace, one of the city’s public housing communities.

Watson thought owning a home was improbable until 2023 when at age 62 he became able to purchase what he refers to as his “forever home.”

“I always wanted to be a homeowner but never thought I could be one because of my age,” Watson said. “The older you get, the less chance I thought I would have [to own a home].”

Watson’s once elusive dream of homeownership came true with the help of the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT). The nonprofit, which was founded in 2019, made Watson its first homeowner under the “community land trust model,” which is designed to ensure long-term affordability. RALT has one other land trust home in the same community and more planned throughout Wake County.

Watson purchased his 1,000 square-foot Southgate Drive home for just under $200,000. The house sits on a little more than a quarter-acre lot with a large, fenced backyard and an impressive deck that Watson added.

The mortgage payment on Watson’s dream home is around $850 a month. He was paying $900 to rent a house before moving to his new home.

“It was just a shotgun house,” Watson said. “I was still doing the maintenance. They didn’t have maintenance people to do the work, so it was really costing me more to stay there. If I’m going to be doing the maintenance, I might as well own my own.”

Kevin Campbell, executive director of RALT, said an affordable place to live for homebuyers like Watson is the reason RALT exists. “We’re trying to make an affordable homeownership opportunity with an ability to easily earn some equity along the way and at the same time, keeping property affordable permanently,” Campbell said.

Here’s how it works:

Coping with a perfect storm of unaffordability

The thing that makes community land trusts most appealing is the permanent affordability of the homes, Campbell said. That’s critical in fast-growing regions like the Research Triangle as they lose affordable housing units and populations grow, he said.

“I’ve been doing affordable housing for 35 years,” said Campbell who previously worked for Habitat for Humanity. “It’s the most stressed time I’ve seen by far. You have this perfect storm. You’ve got increased construction costs, you have higher mortgage rates for this area, you have a big population increase, so that’s putting pressure on supply.”    

According to the North Carolina Housing Coalition, nearly half of Wake County renters — 72,313 households — have difficulty affording their homes. Meanwhile 17% of homeowners — 48,177 households — have trouble affording their homes. Families that spend more than 30% of income on housing are considered “cost burdened.”

A Housing Supply Gap Analysis of North Carolina’s rental and for-sale housing supply funded by the NC Chamber Foundation projects Wake County will grow by 41,241 households by the end of the decade.

Campbell noted the Chamber’s report found a current housing gap of 53,000 units in Wake County.

“I think it’s expected to grow to 125,000 units over the next five years, so the trend is really bad and we’re trying to do what we can to address that,” Campbell said.

Chipping away at the problem

RALT is currently working on a $8.3 million, 18-unit project called The Cottages of Idlewild to serve lower income residents earning between 30% to 80% of the area median income. The project, which is located about a mile northeast of the city’s center on Lane Street and Idlewild Avenue, is a public/private partnership that received funding from the City of Raleigh. It will include four rental units and 14 for-sale units for first-time homebuyers.

Campbell said construction of the project, which will be developed based on the Community Land Trust model, will start this year and be completed in 2026.

N.C. Central University basketball coach LeVelle Moton is also a partner in the project through his company, Raleigh Raised Development. Moton grew up in the neighborhood. His grandmother lived on Lane Street and great-grandmother on Idlewild Avenue.

“A lot of people have been displaced,” Moton told NC Newsline in September. “There are a lot of people who didn’t understand gentrification. They either, Number One, sold their houses or were asked to move. So now, we’re trying to educate our community on the importance of homeownership and owning something.”

RALT received a grant from the Town of Cary and will develop four homes there, Campbell said. The nonprofit plans to purchase two homes in Apex and “hopefully” four others in Raleigh, he said.

“We’re building some momentum,” Campbell said. “I have to say that, even with the need as great as it is, the process is slow.”

RALT was incorporated in 2018. It is fairly new when compared to the Durham Community Land Trust, which was incorporated in 1987 and Community Home Trust in Orange County, which was established in 2001.

There are at least four more Community Land Trusts across the state; Asheville-Buncombe Community Land Trust, Cape Fear Community Land Trust, Inc., Watauga Community Housing Trust and West Side Community Land Trust in Charlotte.

Helping homebuyers negotiate the process

Angel Johnson, RALT’s director of homeownership and stewardship, guides homebuyers such as Watson through the process.

“I’m kind of holding their hand along this process, making sure they’re connected to whoever they’re connected with, meeting their financial obligations, making sure they’re not affecting their credit adding any debt,” Johnson said, describing her rule in the process.

Running up credit cards, not paying bills on time and co-signing loans are all common mistakes people in the process of buying homes can make to ruin their chance at homeownership, Johnson said.

In May, Watson is getting married. He laughs easily when asked if he understands he’ll be giving up his bachelor’s pad.

But life is good, and he is grateful.

“I really appreciate y’all for what you did for me,” Watson said, turning to Campbell and Johnson. “I always tell them if you ever need me for anything, I can’t say ‘no’.”

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