I paid just $135,000 for my house when homes in the area are going for twice that. Here's how.

• Melisa Gomez-Romo and her husband bought a home for $135,000 in Duluth, Minnesota, in 2022.
• The couple paid less than usual for the area by going through a community land trust, or CLT.
• The CLT program allows people to buy discounted homes while the trust keeps ownership of the land.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Melisa Gomez-Romo, 40, an associate at One Roof, a nonprofit organization that provides housing services to Minnesotans. In 2022, before she started working there, she and her husband purchased a home for their family of five in Duluth, through One Roof's community land trust program.