A house where friends could stay. Or maybe a small condo with a spare bedroom. Fisto Ndayishimiye is open to different options when he envisions owning his own home.

But then there’s the price of a mortgage. Or the looming question of how long he will live in New Hampshire.

Yet at 25 years old, Ndayishimiye wants to purchase a piece of property. Concord has become his home over the last six years – since he first arrived in the United States with his brother from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For first-time home buyers like himself, programs from the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority make that goal more feasible.

That’s the message Chris Powells, a broker for Hvizda Realty Group and Meghan Merrill, from CMG Home Loans, are sending to New Americans.

Together, with Ndayishimiye and Change For Concord, Powles and Merrill hosted a “Home Ownership is for Everyone” workshop at the community center on the Heights where they outlined the steps and benefits to purchasing property.

“There are a lot of hurdles to buy a house,” said Powles. “But I want to show that there is a tremendous benefit.”

As a renter, the threat of a landlord raising the rent looms each month, especially when vacancy rates are below 1 percent across the state. On average, apartment rents have risen by 40 percent in the last five years, according to New Hampshire Housing.

With a 30-year fixed mortgage, costs are more stable while owners build equity.

“Real estate they say is one of the safest investments that you can make,” Powles said. “Land and houses are becoming more valuable every day.”

In the last decade, homeowners in the US have had a net worth 40 times higher than renters, said Powles.

Purchasing a home can also provide a new source of income by renting out a room, or with a multifamily home, renting out the additional units.

“If you’re able to rent out that half, you can end up with a very reasonable payment,” Powles said.

Buyers can get creative when it comes to purchasing. Powles has seen friends or family members purchase a duplex together. By pooling their incomes, they were able to qualify for larger loans.

When purchasing a home, the mortgage bill and property taxes will often add up to more than the average rent, but it’s like putting that money in the bank.

“If you can look down the road and have a thicker vision and that bigger picture, as you get further down that number grows,” said Powles.

For Hari Adhikari, owning property could mean living and farming in the same location. She grows and sells produce through Fresh Start Farms and rents in Concord with her husband and kids.

The best place to start, according to Powles, is meeting with a real estate agent.

“We hear a lot of this inexperience in the housing market, not understanding,” he said. “It can feel very confusing and overwhelming when you try to look at it by yourself.”

The next step is to get pre-approved for a loan.

That’s where Meghan Merrill comes in. As a lender, Merrill helps clients apply for a mortgage. And for first-time buyers, New Hampshire Housing has several programs to incentivize affordable home ownership.

For first-generation homebuyers, meaning they have never owned a home nor have their parents in their lifetime, New Hampshire Housing offers the 1stGenHomeNH program which provides a $10,000 cash assistance award.

This money can go towards purchasing a one to four-unit property, as long as it will be the buyer’s primary residence. It could also be used for a down payment or closing costs, said Merrill.

As long as the buyer lives in the house for five years they do not need to pay back the money.

CMG, where Merrill is a senior loan officer, is one of New Hampshire Housing’s approved lenders to assist clients in applying for and enrolling in their programs.

New Hampshire Housing also has a first-time buyer program, Home First, that provides an additional $10,000 for buyers who qualify based on income limits. For the Concord area, a household of 1-2 people must make less than $145,600 a year.

That means people who are both first-generation and first-time buyers could see up to $20,000 in assistance.

Merrill and Powles hope to run these homeownership workshops with Change for Concord periodically to provide more information and offer assistance for New Americans.

“The federal government wants people to own homes, and they want people to build their wealth through homeownership,” said Powles. “Similar to what I say about planting a tree. The best time was 20 years ago, the second best time is right now.”