KINGS BEACH, Calif. – Local workers of all income levels looking to purchase a home in North Lake Tahoe are now eligible for down payment through Placer County’s Workforce Housing Preservation Program.
The removal of the income cap was one of several changes passed Tuesday by the county board of supervisors to increase participation on the eastern Placer County side of the program. The program aims to create a “second market” of housing reserved for the local workforce.
Launched in 2021, the program will pay participants to actually limit their properties so that only local workers can buy or rent them, giving homebuyers a source of financing that can be used for a down payment or renovation. In recent months, the program has seen its first entrant close a property, and another 24 applicants have been approved, but haven’t found any homes to buy yet.
But with median home prices in North Lake Tahoe more than doubling in just the past two years, the supply of homes in price ranges affordable to those earning less than the initial income ceiling of 245% of the median median income is scarce. .
Other changes to the program guidelines include removing the provision that those who have owned a home in the past 12 months cannot apply, and opening it to the 60% of local workers who live outside of North Tahoe, but prefer to live closer to their home. jobs. There are also now multiple options for demonstrating that an applicant is a full-time employee – a step to ensure local teachers qualify.
Deed limit payments of 16% of the purchase price, up to $150,000, will be awarded during the purchase process, based on the availability of funding, to those who pre-qualified for the program. All participants must qualify for and provide independent financing for the purchase of a home. In all cases, the deed restrictions remain in effect for 55 years, with the 55-year term being extended with each sale or transfer of the home.
When fully implemented, Placer’s goal is to be able to purchase 40 new deed restrictions per year in eastern Placer.
The program is modeled on the InDEED program of Vail, Colorado – developed in response to rising housing costs and limited housing availability for local workers. Vails’ housing problems are similar to those in eastern Placer County, where nearly 90% of homes are owned by second homeowners. Since its inception in 2017, Vail has secured local housing by purchasing deed restrictions for more than 140 units, and the program has since replicated in the Colorado towns of Frisco and Breckenridge.
Placer’s Workforce Housing Preservation Program is currently accepting applications from local workers who work in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, only for homes in eastern Placer County.
Source: Placer County