Teacherwise Program in Santa Fe

Category: Best Collaboration to Promote Homeownership

Information About Innovation:
Title:	Teacherwise Program in Santa Fe
Summary:	In 2003, Homewise, Inc. of Santa Fe, NM, began a partnership with the Santa Fe Public School District to provide opportunities for teachers to purchase homes. Because Santa Fe has one of the highest priced housing markets in the country and some of the lowest teacher salaries, housing assistance is critical to retaining quality teachers. The Teacherwise Program is expected to help raise teacher retention rates, thereby strengthening the school system overall.
Detailed Description:	Teacherwise addresses the housing needs of educators through a variety of innovative methods: 1. For the established teacher who wants to purchase a home in Santa Fe, Teacherwise offers down-payment assistance in the form of deferred loans, plus homebuyer education, and low-interest mortgages. In addition to helping teachers build wealth through home equity, purchasing a home will ensure that housing costs are not subject to annual increases that might come from renting a home. 2. For the long-term teacher who already owns a home in Santa Fe, Teacherwise can help maintain or improve the house by providing low-interest home-repair loans and construction expertise. 3. For the new teacher who needs to find a reasonably-priced apartment, Homewise has negotiated discounted prices from several apartment complexes. The economic and social impact of Teacherwise is significant. The Santa Fe Public School District loses about 20% of its teachers each year, and in a recent survey over 80% claimed they were considering leaving the area due to the high cost of living. A leading human resources magazine estimates the cost of replacing a teacher to be $10,000-$20,000 to the school district, including separation costs, replacement costs, and training costs. At a conservative estimate of $13,000 per teacher lost, the total cost of losing 20% of the 791 teachers in the district adds up to over $2 million every year. In addition to the economic benefits of retaining teachers, the community also realizes social benefits. Students benefit from long-time educators who are committed to teaching in Santa Fe, and schools benefit from the continuity and stability of returning teachers. Santa Fe’s children benefit from native Santa Feans who want to live and teach in Santa Fe, thereby helping to preserve some of the community’s native cultures and traditions. Studies have shown that employees who own their homes have longer job tenure and are less likely to move. Providing viable housing options is critical to reducing the high rate of turnover among Santa Fe’s teachers. Teacherwise has broad community support from the Santa Fe Public School District, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, Santa Fe’s public officials, and others. Although just in its first year, Teacherwise has received $1 million in capital to provide down-payment assistance and home-repair loans to teachers in Santa Fe, plus operating support of $40,000 from the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, and two grants of $2,500 and $7,000 from the Santa Fe Community Foundation. In addition, Teacherwise was named a winner of the prestigious Pinon Award in 2003. Teacherwise was easily integrated into Homewise. One Homewise staff member spends approximately 20% of her time doing marketing and outreach promoting the program to teachers and reporting to the school district. Once teachers enter the program, they are handled by existing home purchase staff members, as any potential homebuyer would be. Teacherwise is significant in that it is an easily replicated program. Indeed, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has proposed creating a homeownership program for “teachers, cops, and nurses” based on the success of the Teacherwise model.
Projected Cost:	The primary cost specific to Teacherwise is the Teacherwise Program Coordinator’s salary of approximately $10,000 (20% of an FTE, plus fringe benefits), plus $12,000 spent in the first year on marketing materials.
2003 Outcomes:	Teacherwise was well-received among teachers in Santa Fe. In 2003, 89 teachers inquired about buying a home through Teacherwise. This number is significant in that it is over 10% of the total teachers in the school district. Of these 89, 37 met with homebuyer counselors, 9 bought a home, and 10 others became buyer-ready. The home-improvement side of Teacherwise received 14 inquiries in 2003. One of the main goals in 2003 was a campaign to get the word out to teachers that homeownership in Santa Fe is possible. To reach this goal, Homewise distributed brochures to all teachers, placed posters in schools, and wrote articles for teacher newsletters. In addition, Teacherwise received significant local press for being the first program of its kind to help Santa Fe’s teachers. In 2004, the Santa Fe Public School District demonstrated their satisfaction with Teacherwise by expanding the requirements to allow all public-school employees to participate in Teacherwise.
Keywords:	Down-payment assistance, Homeownership, Partnership, Teachers
Information About Organization:
Name:	Homewise, Inc.
Address 1:	1570 Pacheco Street, Suite A-1
City, State, Zip:	Santa Fe, New Mexico  87505
Org. Status:	501c3 Non-Profit
Contact Name:	Lynn Taulbee
Contact E-mail:	ltaulbee@homewise.org
Contact Phone:	505-955-7020

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