Homeownership

Burbank Housing’s Homeownership Program offers two avenues to ownership for eligible homebuyers.

Mutual Self-Help* Housing Program

“ I have had the pleasure of working with Burbank Housing for over 15 years as their primary permanent lender for many of their new home communities. Burbank Housing is a great company to work with because they enable me to provide financing to those families that may never achieve the dream of homeownership without our joint efforts. I look forward to our continued partnership.” Joan Picard Senior Loan Officer
Cal-Bay Mortgage Group
Petaluma, CA

This owner/builder program brings participating families together as an organized group under the supervision of Burbank Housing to build their homes and their new community from the ground up.  Mutual self-help offers affordable homeownership to eligible, lower income, first-time homebuyers.  It includes a reduced mortgage loan, favorable loan terms, and reduced cash down payment requirement.  Home mortgages for self-help families are provided by the US Department of Agriculture or the California Housing Finance Agency and is arranged by Burbank Housing.

The households participating in the mutual self-help program build each others homes as a team.  These crews work alongside experienced construction supervisors who guide the work and ensure that it is done correctly, safely and according to code.  Licensed contractors do the more technical work, such as electrical and plumbing.  Over the course of a year, with each household devoting about 30 hours per week, the community is completed and new homeowners are able to move into their first home.

The advantage of the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program is that a low to moderate income household can truly afford a home. A combination of local, state and federal subsidies, along with the equity earned by each household from their labor, translates to a reduced monthly mortgage payment in keeping with the household's annual income.

Resale Program

Through its resale program, Burbank Housing makes its previously developed homes available to first-time lower-income homebuyers when they become available on the market.  We suggest that you contact a mortgage lender of your choice to discover the maximum amount you and/or your household will qualify for.  Once you pre-qualify, mail a copy of your pre-qualification letter to us.

General Mailing List Pre-application

Homeownership Program General Mailing List Pre-application

To participate in the Homeownership Program, we must have your current pre-application on file. Please take a moment to complete the Homeownership Program General Mailing List Pre-application.

Información en Español

Por favor vaya a Información en Español.


*Mutual Self-help: Owner/builder program brings participating families together as an organized group under the supervision of Burbank Housing to build their homes.