The Klug family in their new home in downtown Carson City on Nov. 4. From left, Ronan, 6, sitting with Jason Klug, Daisy, 8, and Ira, 4, sitting with Brenda Klug.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
The dream of homeownership has become a reality for one Carson City family after two years of searching.
On Nov. 4, the Klug family headed by parents Jason and Brenda, both 38, showed the Appeal their new 1954 charmer on North Nevada Street downtown. The couple and their three young children were profiled by the Appeal in the fall of 2023.
The family opened up their lives — work, housing, emotional challenges — to illuminate the struggle of affordable housing for working families: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2023/nov/03/an-affordable-housing-problem-couple-discusses-challenges-of-buying-home-in-carson-city/.
At the time, Jason was making $62,000 a year working as an account representative for Ferguson Enterprises, while Brenda homeschooled the children. They were living with Jason’s parents under C-Hill.
Fast forward a year: Jason is making more money from a promotion with the same company, but the family is still budget-conscious with a new mortgage and family members each with varying needs. One thing they have now, though, is a stable home.
“I haven’t wrapped by head around it,” said Brenda Klug, adding they couldn’t have done it without the help of family. “My kids have been through so much instability. You know, we’ve moved four times in the past seven years, and the moves were not pleasant or hopeful moves.”
The Klugs purchased the house for $345,000. The median home price in Carson City as of September was $534,950, according to Sierra Nevada Realtors. Having been driven out of rentals by increasing rents in the past, the Klugs were determined to take the first step toward home ownership, build equity and create a sense of place for their children.
“It’s really surreal,” said Jason Klug. “Like Brenda said, we moved a lot, and every other time it was like we were moving from something, not to something, which is really exciting.”
How’d they get the proverbial foot in the door? The Klugs said they used the Launchpad program for first-time homebuyers through Nevada Rural Housing. More information about Launchpad and other programs is online: https://nvrural.org/programs/homeownership/.
According to Katie Coleman, communications director for NRH, Launchpad started last summer with $25 million in funding and offered “access to a lower-than-market rate of 6.17% that is paired with down payment assistance.”
“The Launchpad program has provided more than 70 rural Nevada families the opportunity of homeownership,” Coleman said. “It’s wonderful to see so many achieve this dream, especially amid a challenging housing market that has priced many hard-working families out of affordability.”
When Launchpad funding is depleted, NRH will continue to offer “its flagship Home At Last program, which has assisted 10,000-plus buyers over the past 18 years,” Coleman said.
The Klugs were fortunate to find sellers — four sisters who’d grown up in the house — who wanted to work with a family and ultimately accepted a purchase amount below asking price.
“What it really comes down to is needing people like this family, the four sisters who are in the trust for this house, they were willing to go below asking and take a chance on a family and keep that family local and give that hope to have a home,” said Brenda Klug. “To me, that’s the X-factor; that’s the thing that needs to happen.”
The Klugs credited their purchasing team as well for sticking with them through the ups and downs of home shopping: John Brummer from ReMax and Jeff Kale from Prime Lending. The house they found on North Nevada Street is under 1,200 square feet, with three bedrooms, one bathroom and a big yard. It has a vintage feel, evincing decades of thoughtful care.
The Klugs closed escrow in August and, after making some upgrades, settled in around Halloween. At the time of the interview, Brenda had been teaching their kids how to live frugally. Learning to budget, can food, plant a garden were among her goals.
“I want to build something with my kids,” she said. “I want to build just a slow-paced, humble, hopeful type of lifestyle that they can really use as a strong foundation to go do great things when they’re older, and I feel that this is very much the space that we were hoping for, that I can fully do it. I can see it happening here with them.”
On Halloween, Carson City Community Development announced a real estate training program, including lunch, Nov. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Adams Hub, 111 W. Proctor St.
“Carson City Community Development is partnering with the Northern Nevada Development Authority and Nevada Rural Housing to offer free real estate agent training about NRH’s first-time homebuyer programs,” said the release. “During the City’s listening sessions for the Master Plan Update, community members expressed concerns that they, family members, co-workers, and employees could not afford to purchase housing in Carson City. Consequently, first-time home buyers who want to buy in Carson City are buying homes in neighboring communities.”
Community Development Director Hope Sullivan said, “We heard frustration from residents and employers about housing costs and the relationship between housing costs and having a local workforce. We’re partnering with NRH to publicize its first-time home buyer programs in hopes that Carson City real estate agents can help our residents become first-time home buyers in Carson City. This would have the added benefit of adding to a local workforce.”
Real estate agents who participate in the training will be featured on NRH’s website as real estate partners and listed under agent referral for interested homebuyers.
Space is limited, and registration is required at www.nvrural.org/agent-workshop/.
Any questions can be directed to Sullivan at planning@carson.org.
Brenda Klug said she’d like to find a way to network with sellers interested in working with local families to purchase a home. To contact her, email bnklug@gmail.com.