$10,000 down payment help for affordable housing applicants like Lisa Shaw
The Village has been hard at work finding ways to help folks locate places to call home in Islamorada in spite of our extraordinary high cost of housing.
If you have always dreamed of owning your own home in Islamorada... help may be available. If you are interested, you are encouraged to apply with the Islamorada Planning Department for the Down Payment Assistance Program. If you qualify for a home loan and have 3.5% of the purchase price for a down payment, $10,000 assistance from the Village may be available. Every year $1,000 of that initial amount will be “forgiven” by the Village, adding equity to your investment in addition to the increases you obtain in increased market value and through your mortgage principle payments. The tough part may be locating a house that is affordable. But don’t give up... keep looking for the perfect opportunity. Lisa Shaw’s story is typical of the local residents who have used the down payment help as incentive to become Islamorada homeowners. Lisa works as a Secretary Specialist at the Department of Juvenile Justice office on Upper Matecumbe. A number of years ago Lisa had to leave Islamorada because of a family situation... but her beloved Islamorada remained in her heart. After her husband died, Lisa knew she wanted to be back home in Islamorada. A few months ago she saw the six little homes being built at the corner of Orange and U.S. One on Plantation Key. And with the down payment help from the Village, Lisa is now a proud homeowner. Her brand new home is perfect for her. She praises Maria Bassett at the Village for guiding her, step by step, through the application process, making her experience extremely positive. Not everyone can be as fortunate as Lisa who gives much credit to Chris Sante, former member of the Village Council, and his wife Pam, for coming up with a perfect design and plan to build homes that are economical for the working class residents of the community. And right in the midst of a wonderful Islamorada subdivision with a gorgeous homeowners park on Florida Bay. Lisa now has established her roots here and says she doesn’t plan to leave... ever. Her mortgage payments are fixed and she is thrilled she no longer has to worry about finding a rental at ever-escalating prices. And while living affordably in her cherished home, in her dream community, she watches her equity in her home grow more rapidly as $1000 a year of the her debt on the home is forgiven by the Village and property values continue to go up in ever popular Islamorada. Plus... no more struggling with rent increases every year or so! Lisa proudly displays the improvements she has made as her family and friends have new gift opportunities – plants for her own garden including a Key lime tree right outside her front door! Congratulations Lisa. And congratulations Islamorada for finding a way to help locals afford housing here. |
Down Payment Assistance Program: $10,000 for New Homeowners
The Village's down payment assistance program allows first-time home buyers a forgivable loan of $10,000 to low to moderately low income individuals or families purchasing a home in Islamorada. First-time home buyers is defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as individuals who have not owned a home in the past five years.
HOW IT WORKS Qualified applicants will receive $10,000 at closing to be applied toward the purchase of a home. In exchange, the applicant deed restricts the home to Affordable Housing for 10 years. Every year $1,000 of the loan from the Village is forgiven. So if an applicant owns the house for 10 years, the entirety of the loan is forgiven. The applicant is only responsible for a partial repayment of the loan if he/she moves within 10 years. If, for example, the applicant sells his/her house on year seven, he/she would be responsible for a repayment of $3,000 to the Village. Press ReleaseIslamorada Offers Down Payment Assistance to Workforce
The Village of Islamorada is offering $10,000 in down payment assistance to working-class families and individuals looking to purchase a home in Islamorada. To qualify, individuals must meet the current affordable housing limits. If single, a person can make no more than $90,150 a year. For a couple, their combined incomes can be no more than $103,050. The maximum sale price for the house is limited, also. The Affordable Housing Fact sheet also details income limits for other sized households. How the program works is that qualified individuals apply with the Islamorada Planning Department for the $10,000 assistance. Once the applicant has submitted all necessary documents and the application is approved, the money will become available at closing. The $10,000 is a “forgivable loan.” Every year $1,000 of the loan will be forgiven. The buyer is expected to live in and own the home for 10 years, at which time the entirety of the “loan” will be forgiven. If the homeowner who used the program decides to sell the home after 10 years, only $1,000 will be repaid to the Village of Islamorada. If the homeowner sells the home before the 10 years is over, he or she will owe the balance of what hasn’t been “forgiven” every year. For example, if the homeowner sells the home seven years after he or she has purchased it, he or she would owe the Village $3,000. The Village Council, Achievable Housing Citizens Advisory Committee (AHCAC), and the Islamorada Local Planning Agency have been working on this program for approximately two years. The program was approved by the state and available for use in August 2016. “The purpose of this program is to help people in Islamorada become homeowners,” AHCAC member Keith Douglass said. “The Village wants to provide assistance so that our teachers, police officers, fire fighters, and other individuals can afford to live and stay here in Islamorada. They are essential to our community and critical for our quality of life.” To qualify, the property must be located in the Village of Islamorada and fall below the maximum sales price established by the current Affordable Housing Fact Sheet. Applicants must be able to qualify for a home loan. For more information, contact the Planning Department at (305) 664-6400. |
Heidi talks about how the village gave her $10,000 toward her downpayment of her new home.
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