The Philadelphia Empowerment Zone

Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now

Introducing a new way to make Philadelphia a more attractive place to work and live.

Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now is designed to assist Philadelphia employers to recruit and retain valuable employees, by helping these employees become homeowners. Employers can also make financial contributions to improve employees' access to the City's PHIL, PHIL Plus and Mini PHIL loans, and employers can offer home buyer and credit workshops at the workplace.

Also, by requiring employees who participate in the program to buy homes in the neighborhoods around the corporate facilities, employers can help reduce employees' commuting times and stabilize neighborhoods making their companies safer and more attractive places to do business.

Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now Details

Useful Information

A true public-private partnership offers a great incentive

When employers give financial assistance to eligible employees to buy homes in the City through Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now, their contributions are matched by the City of Philadelphia through its Neighborhood Transformation Initiative dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 per employee. In addition, many employees will also qualify for up to $2,000 in closing cost assistance through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA).

There are no income eligibility limits to obtain City matching funds.

The first employers to enroll come in all shapes and sizes

Both large and small companies, and for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, can reap major benefits for their organizations and their employees through Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now.

Since Fall 2004 when the program was launched, 29 Philadelphia employers have enrolled. Following is a partial list of our employers:

Citizens Bank, Episcopal Community Services, Germantown Friends School, NewCourtland Elder Services, University of the Sciences, Energy Coordinating Agency, Fannie Mae, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, Saint Joseph's University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In October, 2007 Temple University - with its 5,600 employees - became the latest Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now participant.

To date, 92 homes have been purchased through Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now in Chestnut Hill, Fern Rock, Germantown, North Philadelphia, Oak Lane East, West Mount Airy, and West Oak Lane. The median sales price for these homes is $132,000.

Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now's rate of enrollment compares very favorably with data from Fannie Mae's National employer- assisted housing program, PHFA's state program, and similar municipal programs in Baltimore, Seattle and other cities.

Getting involved is easy! The City of Philadelphia offers free technical assistance to employers to help them customize and implement Philadelphia Home • Buy • Now in their organizations. To participate in the program as an employer, or to refer an employer to the program, contact Jim Flaherty at 215-683-2126 or jim.flaherty@phila.gov