Community Home Trust (Chapel Hill: sales, lease, chapel)

[datphatmao]

Hello,
I'm new to this home trust model and I've read up on land trusts on wiki to get an idea of the home trusts.
I'm also new to this area, about 1.5 years now and would like to put my money into a home rather than rent with my girlfriend. The problem is that Chapel Hill is not a very affordable place to buy a home, however. Community Home Trust provides an option.

The only thing is that it sounds like they own the land through a ground lease, and you buy and sell the home. I don't understand how they can control the price (maybe through contract agreements). Either way, it sounds like a good plan for someone that wants to start investing in themselves rather than throw money away on rent.

I just don't know if it's too good to be true.
I mean, they have their own RE agents, Attorneys to use, Lenders, etc. Sounds like a monopoly scheme of some kind. They recommend a third party home inspector. They've been doing business for over 10 years, but I'd like to see if I can contact any of their previous tenants.

They also have a FB page.

Does anyone know more about this? Provide more insight into the advantages and pitfalls? For instance, I know I won't make any appreciation on the home since the whole point is to keep homes affordable.

Thanks,
Dat

[lb27608]

One of my best friends and her husband bought a Community Trust townhome on Legion Rd. about 10 years ago. They recently sold it and moved into a (non-CT) single-family home, and that process DID take longer than a normal sales transaction.

As I recall, the process they went through was similar to a standard RE transaction, but they did have to attend first-time homebuyer classes and financial counseling. They had no complaints about the Trust during the time they lived there, though.

[datphatmao]

Thank you for your response.
It really helps, would by chance know how much longer it took?