PAWTUCKET – In today’s housing market, says one local woman, she would never have been able to afford the home she will now raise her young children in if not for the path she took.
The new homeowner, speaking with The Local Insider this week, shared how proud she is to own her own home through Pawtucket Central Falls Development, and how thrilled she is that the all-in costs, including taxes, are only a couple of hundred dollars more than she’s been paying in rent.
The woman, who was granted her request not to be named, purchased the home at 72 Branch St., near the Pawtucket Water Supply Board and on the Blackstone River, on June 29 during National Homeownership Month.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said, explaining that she first started finding out about different housing programs back in 2021.
She wasn’t able to afford purchasing a home at the time based on what she was earning, said the woman, but she had always wanted to go back to school, so she completed a nursing program, started working in that field, and then started getting back in the game on housing programs. She knew then that she was still not in a place to purchase a home, having some items to pay off.
The woman said she’d taken classes with Dianny Melusky, director of home ownership at PCF Development, in 2021, and took them with her again in November of 2024. Those classes were full of valuable information, she said, with Melusky and guest speakers talking about everything from mortgage options to debt-to-income ratios.
The coursework, with instructors from Navigant Credit Union, Bank RI, and others, is designed to make sure the would-be homeowner is comfortable and not going to be in any kind of jeopardy as they purchase a home.
The process involved a lot of hard work, she said, but Melusky giving the right information was also vital to the process.
The new homeowner said she hasn’t officially moved in yet, having a lot of belongings to go through as she moves from Cumberland, but has already fallen in love with her new home. It’s clean, new, and everything smells great.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, featuring plenty of outdoor space where her children can run and enjoy nature, particularly her son who loves exploring nature.
“They’re going to grow up in it,” she said of her children and the 1,400-square-foot home. She explained how important it is to her not to have to move her children around much after being in more than 15 schools growing up. Finding affordable adequate apartments with normal jobs is so difficult, she said, so being able to afford owning a home for slightly more is a blessing.
Pawtucket took over the top spot in the state for affordability on owning a home, as this writer reported in January, and PCF’s growing portfolio of homes, completed in partnership with the city of Pawtucket and others, has a lot to do with that.
Linda Weisinger, CEO of PCF Development, said the organization was fortunate to purchase the property on Branch Street for $1 in 2023. The house is located along the Blackstone River and required approvals from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Pawtucket Riverfront Commission.
The home at 72 Branch St. is a newly constructed 3-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom single-family home and was sold for $319,000, said Weisinger. The house was developed utilizing HOME funds awarded to PCF Development from the city of Pawtucket. There is a deed restriction recorded to ensure affordability of the property for 30 years. The buyer can sell at any point, but the home must be sold to another income-qualified homebuyer.
“PCF Development has a robust pipeline of new homes for sale. We are currently working on two new homes at the corner of Stuart Street and Main Street that will be for sale,” said Weisinger.
This first-time homebuyer is a two-time graduate of PCF Development’s HUD-approved Homebuyer Education Program, she added. Though the statewide HUD-approved homebuyer education certificate is valid for only two years, homebuyers who are not ready initially can achieve homeownership through continued counseling and a personalized action plan developed by PCF Development.
The homebuyer worked diligently to become mortgage-ready by paying down debt and increasing savings, said Weisinger. She applied for a new PCF Development home last December and closed on her new affordable home six months later in June.
The purchase of the affordable home was for $319,000, well below Pawtucket’s median single-family home sales price of approximately $405,000. The buyer secured an affordable loan mortgage product through a PCF Development lending partner Navigant Credit Union.
The total monthly payment is about $330 more than the buyer’s previous rent, as she transitions from renting to building equity and generational wealth through homeownership, said Weisinger.
If someone would like to learn more about PCF Development’s Homeownership Program, buying their own home or joining an upcoming pre-purchase HUD-approved homebuyer education course, she said they can call 401-726-1173, ext. 12, or email .
Housing continues to be the top issue of concern for most Rhode Islanders, and Pawtucket Central Falls Development is leading the way on improving the landscape, says Weisinger.
People need affordable places to live, she said, and the organization has done a great job creating home ownership opportunities that are affordable. They have a long waiting list for rentals, she said, and plenty of new opportunities for first-time homebuyers.
This latest buyer’s story is such an important one, said Weisinger, because it illustrates how people who have been priced out of the market still have a chance to buy a home for about $100,000 less than they otherwise would. It’s an empowering message of a single mother who doesn’t have to despair of ever finding permanent housing and being stuck renting, she said. This woman showed a lot of resiliency coming back in 2024 after first taking the class in 2021, she added.
It’s rare that someone sells one of their homes after purchasing it, said Weisinger, because they’re buying it for the housing stability, to have a roof over their head without being tied to a landlord. This owner now has a home near the riverfront with her own driveway and large yard.
Owners are income-certified at time of purchase, and PCF Development pre-sells all houses during construction. Homes are sold to people in the program on a first-come, first-served basis.
Another three homes are in the immediate pipeline, and there are two that PCF Development is breaking ground on this week.
There are so many entities and parties playing a role in this important process, said Weisinger. The property from the Pawtucket Water Supply Board was vacant land for a long time, and that purchase for $1 in 2023 was a “game-changer in making the numbers work,” she said.
This buyer’s story should be a message to future people in the same situation, she added. They might not be ready today or tomorrow, but they can eventually make it through. Even if someone doesn’t have a house today, everything can eventually pay off with a newly constructed affordable home.
