New, Improved First-Time Home Buyer Program Appeals to Nevada Mortgage Seekers
According to The Nevada Appeal, the city’s new housing program was designed for people like Brian Reichle.
Although he makes “a decent living” at $51,000 a year working as an accountant for Marriott, he still needs financial help to capture the American dream. And that’s where the city housing department may come in -with a mortgage loans that help open doors.
The Texas native, who moved here six months ago, wants to own a home at Tahoe but feels the prices are out of reach. His scenario is common.
“Everything is so expensive,” Reichle said, adding he’s somewhat surprised by the rates. “I’m kind of, and I’m kind of not. It is Tahoe.”
Like a lot of locals, Reichle has no money saved and no known prospects with which to combine incomes. He explained one could buy “a good house” elsewhere for $200,000. That’s unheard of at Lake Tahoe. A few years ago, the area surpassed a telling threshold when no single family homes were listed for that amount.
Instead, condominiums would go such a figure.
With that, the city realized it needed to add tools to its toolbox to keep its citizens at the lake. Dovetailing off the first-time homebuyer program, the city approved last June another version that would appeal to the moderate income level of resident. And Reichle fits the bill.
South Lake Tahoe’s moderate income housing program will loan up to $100,000 to those who qualify at a 2 percent home loan rate with no maximum purchase price required.
For individuals of a household, one may qualify under a $55,000 salary - which is up to 120 percent of the area median income of $65,400. The area is defined as Placer and El Dorado counties as well as the city, the latter being about half the area’s median.
For a family of four, the household income may bring in up to $78,500.
Once qualified, the home buying prospect must chip in 10 percent of the city’s loan in order to qualify for a Nevada mortgage.
“And that can be a gift,” said Cathy Kope, who runs the city housing programs. She implied that some people get an instant chunk through inheritance or parental goodwill.
“We’ve been hearing for quite a while now the middle-income families are driven out of town,” she said, citing declining enrollment at schools. “That’s driving this program.”
Kope would like to see more interest generated in the program and admitted it requires more paperwork.
“But it’s a good instrument,” she said.
Re/Max real estate agent Cheryl Murakami, who also serves the community as the South Tahoe Board of Realtors president, would like to support the program because she’s noticed a growing market for those seeking a nicer home for the same money a house a few years ago could have secured.
“People have started looking in the moderate income housing category because houses have moderated somewhat,” she said. “The quality of the homes have gone up. A fixer upper is now one that’s been remodeled.”
She defined a $400,000 home as a step up from the usual less-than-flattering offerings the money would have bought five years ago. But she did point out that the South Shore’s median home price is still lower than the state.
The median sales price for a single family home is $476,000 last month - $2,000 more than last November’s and $11,000 more for October’s. The median haven’t fluctuated much between 2005 and 2006.