To help young Boston residents overcome the challenges of Boston’s housing market, ONEin3 Boston provides a centralized listing of resources both for prospective home buyers and renters.
If you’re a renter, you need to know about:
The Rental Housing Resource Center provides dispute mediation for tenants and landlords and everything you need to know about your rights as a renter. Don’t miss the Good Neighbor’s Handbook.
If you’re thinking of buying, you need to know about:
The Boston Home Center, which provides excellent free workshops like Homebuying 101, which is a must-do for every first time homebuyer.
Homebuying 101 graduates have these advantages:
- Homebuying 101 is a required course for the BostonHOME Certificate Initiative providing down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible buyers
- Homebuying 101 is a required course for the Soft Second Mortgage program, providing qualified buyers access to a special line of loan products through participating lenders
- Qualified buyers can also access MHFA and other Fannie Mae specialty loan programs upon completion of the course.
The Home Center offers programming far beyond Homebuying 101 and all of it is well worth exploring.
More Resources:
The Boston Redevelopment Authority requires real estate developers to create affordable home ownership and rental opportunities in the city of Boston. Visit this site to find out about specific current opportunities and related income guidelines.
You can even register for regular email notification of affordable housing opportunities.
Use the MyNeighborhood Census Viewer is an interactive web-based tool that allows users to select areas of the city and view the breakdown of demographics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, household characteristics, and housing occupancy.
The Artist Housing Initiative is a program of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, designed to help Boston’s artists find the live/work space they need. Information is available on eligibility guidelines, as well as specific units currently available - generally at below-market prices.
Use The Boston Atlas to see aerial photos of real estate you are considering, as well as to look up current City of Boston assessment figures for that property.
At the state level:
Mass Housing offers additional programs and resources for would-be home buyers.
Know any other great housing sites? Let us know at ONEin3Boston@CityofBoston.gov
