They served.
Veterans who served this country deserve a real shot at a home they can afford, and the market is not giving them one. Dream Seeker Homes exists to build the homes the market leaves out: small, basic, and priced so a VA loan or a VASH voucher can open the door.
The problem, plainly
The numbers are
In January 2026, the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care counted 429 veterans experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County. That is down 9% from the year before, and real progress. It is still 429 people who served their country waking up without a home. Arizona is home to roughly 460,000 veterans, and about one in four lives with a service-connected disability.
Meanwhile, the price of an average home in the Phoenix area has climbed far past what a veteran on a modest income, a fixed disability payment, or a pension can carry. Veterans are not priced out because they earned less; they are priced out because builders stopped making homes in their price range.
So we decided to be the builders. It is that simple: if the market will not build $180,000 homes for veterans, a nonprofit of Realtors and investors can.
The strategy
Why under
The number is not magic, it is math. A basic home under $180,000 puts a VA loan payment within reach of a veteran's income without stretching it, and it keeps rent low enough for a HUD-VASH voucher to cover the month. At that price, "I am a veteran" is a qualification, not a hardship.
It also keeps the builds honest. No granite everywhere, no three-car garage nobody asked for. Small footprint, low maintenance, sensible finishes, built for the desert. Veterans get a home that works, at a price that works, and the difference between those two things is what we exist to close.
Buy with the VA loan they earned
Most Arizona veterans use the federal VA home loan benefit through a private lender. We build so that benefit actually makes the monthly payment work.
Rent with a VASH voucher
HUD-VASH pairs a housing voucher with VA case management. Our homes are built to be rentable and livable within a voucher's payment standard.
Own it for good
When a veteran rents, we do not stop at rent. The nonprofit works to help them financially purchase the home, turning a place to stay into a place they own.
Why Realtors started it
We had the skills.
Dream Seeker Homes was founded by professional Realtors and investors with strong family and professional ties to veterans. We spent our careers rehabs, rentals, short sales, and new construction, and we watched the affordable end of the market disappear. Starting a nonprofit was the answer to the question nobody else was asking: what if the people who know how to build homes built them for the people who served?
Tricia Manara
Broker and rehabber with a master's in finance and about 20 years in accounting and real estate. The one who runs the numbers so the mission stays affordable.
Lea Tallo
President of Sonoran Sol Ventures, a rehab and rental company, and a career sales professional. The one who can sell a veteran on a home and a donor on a mission.
Paula (PJ) Selby
A daughter of a Korean War Purple Heart recipient and a mother of two Army veterans, with 25 years in the Arizona building industry. The one who keeps the mission personal.