A 20 percent down payment on a typical Bethany-area home would run more than $150,000.

For families earning low to moderate incomes, that number alone can make homeownership feel out of reach. A nonprofit mortgage lender now serving all of Oregon wants to change that math.

Arrive, formerly the Portland Housing Center, expanded its homebuying counseling and lending services statewide in 2025 and officially rebranded under its new name right before American Independence Day, according to the organization's website.

The expansion means Bethany, Cedar Mill, and Oak Hills residents can now access down-payment loan programs and HUD-certified housing counselors that were previously limited to Portland.

What Arrive offers

The nonprofit operates as a commission-free mortgage lender and Community Development Financial Institution. It charges a one-time $99 fee for access to a housing counselor who builds a personalized savings and credit plan.

After enrollment, clients can take unlimited classes on homebuying finance, plumbing, estate planning, and more.

"It is definitely a myth that you need 20% down to purchase a home," Executive Director Dana Fuller Shepherd told the Beaverton Valley Times. "I have purchased several and have never had 20% down."

Anyone can register for counseling, but income limits apply to certain lending programs, Fuller Shepherd said.

She added that depending on a buyer's credit, she has seen people pay as little as $500 out of pocket to close on a home.

Down-payment help and matched savings

Arrive offers down-payment assistance in the form of a second loan, separate from the primary mortgage, covering up to 20 percent of a home's purchase price at an interest rate below the first mortgage.

The organization also administers Oregon Individual Development Accounts, a state program created in 1999 that matches savings for low-income residents working toward homeownership.

Fuller Shepherd used down-payment assistance herself in 1998 when she bought her first home in Portland at age 22 years old.

Six years later she sold it and used the proceeds to build long-term financial stability.

Why it matters locally

In the Bethany and Northwest Hills area, the average home sale price was $763,200 as of the most recent available RMLS Market Action Report from July 2025, with properties taking about 66 days to sell.

That pace was slower than the Portland metro average of 52 days at the time, according to the Hillsboro Herald.

Statewide, 55 percent of Oregon's down-payment assistance goes to people of color, according to the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services.

Black households in Oregon have the lowest homeownership rate at 30 percent, compared with 67 percent among white households, per the Oregon Employment Department.

The organization says it has guided more than 10,000 Oregonians through the homebuying process over 35 years and financed more than $156 million in mortgages.

How to connect

Arrive's services are available statewide by appointment. Residents can call 503-282-7744 or visit arrivehomeownership.org. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.