Since the city resumed the program last month, just one family
has applied for assistance
Gilroy – A stream of first-time homebuyers have inquired about the city’s $200,000 fund for zero-interest home loans, but so far officials have received only one application.
“We’re getting two or three calls a day, but this is not necessarily a busy home-buying time of year,” Gilroy Housing and Community Development Director Marilyn Roaf said. “It’s going to be first come, first serve, so if people are ready they shouldn’t hesitate.”
Since the city resumed the Homebuyer Assistance Program at the start of November, only one family has applied for assistance. The program offers 15-year loans ranging from $10,000 for a mobile home up to $50,000 for single-family houses. In the first five years, borrowers will not have to pay any interest on the loan; in the second five years, they only have to pay 5 percent; and in the last five years, they are only required to pay 8 percent.
The program was originally intended to help firefighters, teachers and other city employees buy their first house in Gilroy’s pricey real estate market, but officials have widened the candidate field to all low- and middle-income earners who have resided in Gilroy for at least a year.
Employees of the city or Gilroy Unified School District do not have to already live in the city, but they must have completed their employment probationary period.
Before first-time homebuyers can apply, they must complete a laundry list of requirements that includes a financial training session. The program is a primer on how lenders review credit scores and how people can improve their scores, how to budget and pay a mortgage on a monthly basis, and how to take advantage of different loan programs. The next round of classes, which applicants must attend before submitting their loan requests, will take place Jan. 14.
Officials are only accepting applications for loan assistance from low-income candidates through the end of the year, but they will open up the Homebuyer program to moderate-income families in January. A low-income family of four can earn up to $84,900 annually to qualify, whereas a moderate-income family of the same size can earn up to $126,600, according to an income table in the city’s application forms.
The expanded Homebuyer Assistance Program is supported by the city’s Housing Trust Fund, a $3.2-million pool of money earmarked for the construction of affordable housing and other projects intended to help people with limited income obtain housing.
Officials regard the reworked program as a test case for coming years, when they hope to increase the amount loaned to local residents and public employees.
Serdar Tumgoren covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or
st*******@gi************.com
.
Gilroy Sits on $200K in Home Loan Cash
– $200,000 in unclaimed home-loan funds
– 15-year loans with first five years at zero interest
– First-come, first-serve basis
– To get application guidelines, visit the city’s Web site at www.ci.gilroy.ca.us, or call Regina Brisco at 846-0242.
– To sign up for the Jan. 14 financial planning class, call 279-2600.
