Housing

NMF is committed to leading and supporting collaborative efforts to add housing capacity in the region. We build better lives by ensuring that our region has sufficient housing availability and that lack of housing is no longer an obstacle to shelter and jobs. It is NMF’s goal to help add 1,500 new housing units to the region’s housing inventory by 2024.

NMF is now accepting applications to provide gap financing on multi-family and single-family housing projects. Eligible projects will address at least one of the desirable project attributes listed below. Maximum loan amount per project will be capped at $100,000 per project. The interest rate, term, amortization and fees associated with the loan program are determined on a case-by-case basis.

PLEASE NOTE: Funding sources used in the housing loan program can shift our priorities from time to time. For this reason, it is recommended that you contact Cory Boushee at coryb@nwmf.org   

NMF’s goal is to increase the capacity of housing throughout the region. As such, this program is aimed at supporting those projects that increase affordable and workforce housing in our communities.

Desirable project attributes:

• New affordable housing units
• New housing projects that address the needs of low-income persons
• Projects that refurbish existing housing units to increase current housing stock
• New housing projects in high workforce need areas
• Initiatives that lead to additional single-family refurbishment projects
• Projects that support the development of additional single-family homes to address the area’s defined value gap
• Initiatives that lead to new multi-family refurbishment projects
• Projects that support the development of new multi-family homes to address the area’s defined value gap

Ineligible projects:

• Simply transferring the ownership of a property
• General agricultural production
• Projects that do not align with the principles and core values of NMF
• Projects that require NMF to provide long-term primary single-family mortgages
• Projects that would put NMF in a position to act as a developer
• Projects that would require NMF to provide property management services

As a lender, it is never NMF’s intention to fund projects that could otherwise be funded by traditional lenders such as a bank or credit union. NMF does not compete with traditional lenders such as a bank or credit union. Instead, it is our intention and preference that our loan dollars complement traditional financing products and help close gaps wherever they may occur. Financing Gap may be defined as projects that have inadequate equity, or inadequate private lender financing on realistic terms and conditions. The word “gap” may also refer to a difference between cost, appraised and market value of proposed collateral. Primary lenders typically will require a certain level of equity contribution based on the type of asset being financed. Most often, banks will lend up to a certain equity percentage of cost or market value, whichever is less. A gap may exist when cost and market value differ. The desire to finance a gap is not meant to include projects that lack an equity investment entirely. In a typical transaction, a traditional lender such as a bank will be in first position on the loan collateral and NMF will take a second lien behind the bank.

Eligible projects will be prioritized for funding based on the reasonable expectation that the grant funds will help a housing project come to fruition that aligns with the desirable project goals listed below. Eligible organizations receiving grants must be 501(c)3 nonprofit or public organization, or as sanctioned by a tribal government as a nonprofit agency.  Final grant decisions will be based on information received during the application process.