Rodney Reeves and his wife have long dreamed of owning a home big enough for their five children to run and play. On his mail carrier salary, he says, “It was almost impossible to find that in today’s market.”
The Reeves this month moved into a four-bedroom house, with a large back yard and a swing set, in Tremonton, north of Salt Lake City. They put together the down payment with the help of a “fair shared appreciation” note from Homium, a New York-based provider of down-payment assistance.
The notes, a kind of second mortgage, lowers the upfront costs of homeownership without adding to monthly payments. The financing is interest-free, and is repaid upon sale or refinancing.
“From paying rent to building a future, homeownership feels like freedom, pride and possibility all wrapped into one set of keys,” Reeves told ImpactAlpha as his children played in the background. “It definitely feels like we are living the American Dream now.”
The Reeves are among the first families to benefit from the public-private Utah Dream Fund, which, in effect, has become a co-investor in their home. The fund has an initial $5 million from Utah’s Department of Workforce Services, alongside the Mark and Kathie Miller, Garbett Family and Sorenson Impact foundations. Sorenson Impact Group led Homium’s $10 million Series A financing in 2024 (disclosure: Sorenson Impact Foundation also is an investor in ImpactAlpha and supports our coverage of the Ownership Economy).
Homium is looking to raise up to $20 million for the fund to provide fair share appreciation mortgages for more first-time homebuyers and working families in Utah; many can afford monthly mortgage payments but lack sufficient down-payment savings. Through the fund, Homium has so far deployed “shared appreciation notes” to help 10 new homeowners. Another 15-20 homebuyers are currently under contract with Homium to purchase homes.
“We’re seeing new homeowners come in through the Utah Dream Fund across the entire state,” says Homium’s Marcus Martin. The note, “is structured intentionally to be the most dignified tool that they will ever be able to touch when they try to purchase a home,” he adds. “It’s truly this choice-driven flexible tool that, if paired right, and if the homeowner takes it seriously enough, it can create some pretty tremendous outcomes.”
Fair share
Shared appreciation is emerging as a powerful tool to unlock wealth-building opportunities through home ownership. In contrast, the 50-year mortgage idea recently floated by President Trump would saddle buyers with an increased pile of debt and reduce their ability to build equity in their homes.
“Fair” is the key to the shared-appreciation model. Homium’s payout comes from its share of the downpayment, on the same terms as the homeowners themselves. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau last year issued a bulletin warning of the risks to consumers from “multipliers” built into many home equity investment models. In a footnote, the CFPB highlighted Homium as an exception, with its 1:1 payout ratio.
“By leveraging private capital and structuring the program as a fair-share appreciation mortgage, Homium can recycle funds and attract substantially more capital over time – not just grant dollars, but investment capital that grows alongside families,” Sorenson Group’s Jim Sorenson told ImpactAlpha.
“That ability to align incentives, deploy capital responsibly, and repeat the model across markets is what makes this so powerful. It’s not temporary assistance — it’s durable housing infrastructure that can expand to serve millions while ensuring Utah remains a place of opportunity for generations to come.”
In Detroit, Homium has launched a similar fund with Tobias Harris, a player with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. A half-dozen buyers have closed on their new homes in the select neighborhood covered by the fund. The Detroit fund has also won backing from Harris’ former teammate, Jon Leuer, and Pistons owner and private equity investor Tom Gores.
Impact investors can target their allocations to their specific missions. In Utah, the Garbett Family Foundation’s backing of the Dream Fund will support shared appreciation notes for energy-efficient homes. The Miller Foundation’s investment will ensure families in South Salt Lake and Millcreek are included. Jim Sorenson called Homium and the Utah Dream Fund “a market-based solution designed to scale.”
“Homeownership is the primary pillar of wealth-building in America,” he said. “The average homeowner builds nearly 40 times more wealth than the average renter — that gap is both stark and deeply consequential.”
