Special to The Inyo Register

12-4-2007

A sold sign went up on a manufactured home on a half-acre of land near Bishop in late October. A young couple with a toddler and newborn moved into their first home just in time to get ready for the holidays. Not an unusual story, but in this case that sold sign represents a milestone: the first for Inyo County’s First Time Home Buyer’s Program.

“This is spectacular,” said Mark Gleason, the new homeowner with Jennifer Zigler. “To be able to provide a home for my family is just awesome.”
With one pioneer settled, program administrator Inyo Mono County Advocates for Community Action (IMACA) is currently processing five new applications for potential homebuyers. “That first home purchase can present huge hurdles for young families,” said Cynthia Valdivia. IMACA’s Community Services coordinator “This program gives them a leg up.”

Cynthia Valdivia, IMACA community services coordinator, Tracy Holt, buyer’s agent with Prestige Properties, Pat Cecil, Inyo County Planning Department director, Mark Gleason, home buyer with 3-year-old son Albert holding sign, Jennifer Zigler with 7-week-old Travis, Jan Larsen, Planning Department senior planner, and Ann Wong, seller’s agent Eastern Sierra Realty (l-r) celebrate the purchase of a new home for the Gleason family. Photo by Debbie Murphy

The first step for potential homebuyers is an appointment with Valdivia, to fill out the application and go over the guidelines. If the buyer meets all the requirements, the application is passed on to the County Planning Department for approval,  Valdivia explained. “Once we have that approval, the buyer can house hunt. If the home and the primary mortgage payments fit within the guidelines, the next steps are similar to any conventional home purchase.”
From a funding perspective, here’s an example of how the program works, using hypothetical figures: The buyer pre-qualifies for a $180,000 home loan. This will be the primary 30-year mortgage with a fixed rate. Assuming a $300,000 purchase price on the home, the buyer has to come up with a 1-percent down payment on the full price, or $3,000. The funding, in this situation $120,000, comes in as a “silent second,” or gap financing with no interest added until the primary mortgage is paid off in 30 years. The buyer then has 15 years to pay off the second, though he has the option to prepay the second during the term of the primary. The cap on this silent second is $200,000.
The program guidelines include income restrictions: the buyer must verify an income up to 80 percent of the median county income. For a family of four, that cap is $44,000. Buyers also must live and work in Inyo County. The primary mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) cannot exceed 34 percent of the buyer’s gross income and the total debt load figuring in the house payments cannot exceed 45 percent.  The maximum purchase price of the home is $362,790 and, to qualify, it has to be outside the Bishop city limits.
There are three layers of government involvement in the program. The funding originates with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, filtering down to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and then to Inyo County’s Planning Department. “IMACA’s part in the process is client screening and, basically, walking the potential buyer through the program from the initial application to that sold sign, working closely with the County and the real estate community,” said Valdivia.