Res95 RD-95-01 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

SUMMARY ON PREVIOUS BOARD REVIEW OF FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAM CONCEPT BACKGROUND The First Time Home-buyer Financial Assistance Program has as its purpose to empower a wide range of individuals and income levels to enjoy the pride of home ownership, at an affordable price, within the City of Redwood City. The Program will provide shared equity second mortgages, to low income, first-time home buyers and below-market priced units to a variety of household income levels. The initial program is targeted to the Wyndham Place Project, a development of 15 ownership units. One of the objectives included in the City's program design is developing some consistency between the various First Time Home Buyer Programs in San Mateo County. During 1994, the City Council has entered into agreements with the County to participate in this Mortgage Credit Certificate Program for first time home buyers, and to commit $350,000 in HOME funds to subsidize homeownership in the Wyndham Place Project. This and future actions will be taken with an eye on making the programs as similar as possible, to minimize consumer confusion. People interested in First Time Home Buyer Programs are not always aware of, or particularly interested in, jurisdictional boundaries. They have usually heard of a program, in a neighboring city and want to know what we offer. On August 29, 1994, the Board heard a preliminary presentation on the draft program description - for the First Time Homebuyer Program. The Board was requested to make policy choices regarding 8 issues involved in the program structure. The following summary Will remind continuing Board members of their actions and inform the new Board members of the issues which were presented. This summary is for informational purposes since the Board has previously provided guidance and no decision is being requested on these issues. Issues The following issues are all areas where the Board was asked to make policy choices: 1. Resident Incomes As currently conceived, Wyndham Place will have all 15 units affordable to households at or below 100% - 120% of median income and six of the units will be affordable to households at or below 80% of the median income. The Board concurred with this targeting based on available HOME funds fur this purpose. 2. Preferences for Occupancy Page 11 of the Program description lists the various priorities for occupancy proposed by staff. First priority would be to people who live or work in Redwood City.