A couple dozen residents gathered in the Veterans Memorial Building Feb. 16, in hopes that their names would be among the first 30 called in a lottery for the second phase of a self-help housing developing on the west side of Hollister.
Hillside Drive II is the second phase of a self-help housing development on Buena Vista Avenue. The first phase of the project included 25 homes and was completed in September.
The names were drawn from 116 people who applied for the housing development, which will provide downpayment assistance and a low-interest loan to qualifying families. Each applicant was assigned a number so that if the people in the top 30 do not qualify, staff members can move onto the next people in line.
Mayor Ray Friend attended the event and drew the names from a bowl.
“This is the best of the work we do,” said Seth Capron, a project manager with South County House, of the self-help homes.
The nonprofit builds affordable housing projects such as senior housing, apartments and homes.
“The people involved are working people so that is the reason we don’t see a lot (of the 116) applicants here,” Capron said.
Staff members held three orientations about the project with 450 residents in attendance. At the meetings they went over qualifications for potential buyers and offered a pre-application form that needed to be completed and returned to participate in the lottery.
Applicants did not need to be present at the lottery, and those who were called in the top 30 still do need to qualify for the housing programs.
Tony Coria, the homebuyer program manager for South County Housing, translated Capron’s words into Spanish before starting the lottery.
“We are very excited to give a lot of good opportunities,” Coria said. “We wish you all good luck.”
He added that the numbers are not transferable to other families and that anyone who applied twice would be assigned the highest number drawn for their name to make it fair for all applicants.
At the end of the drawing, Friend said a few words about the project.
“These neighborhoods will be the best because you will know each other and take care of each other,” he said. “Good luck.”
Coria said to qualify for the pre-application, residents had to be a first-time homebuyer, plan to occupy the property, meet income restrictions and be a U.S. resident or citizen, or have an authorized work visa. He said the families will receive down payment assistance and will have to qualify for a United States Department of Agriculture loan that will be low interest – 1 percent. The USDA loan comes with a contingency that if the homeowners lose a job, they can call the USDA staff members to postpone payments for up to two years. They earn part of the downpayment through helping during the construction phase.
Families had to have a minimum household income of $32,000 for a family of two, up to $53,550 for a family of eight. They also have to maintain a credit score of at least 640 to qualify for the mortgage.
The applications will be processed in order, starting with the family that received No. 1 in the lottery. The time it takes to process the applicants can vary, Coria said, depending on how quickly families turn in the necessary documents such as W-2 and paycheck stubs. He said the staff members were hoping to complete the process for the 30 families in two months, with construction expected to start in the fall.
The pricing on the homes is $214,999 for a three bedroom or $229,999 for a four bedroom.
Coria provided an example of a possible loan for one of the three-bedroom homes. With taxes, home owners’ insurance and the mortgage payment with interest at 1 percent, the typical monthly payment would be $922.
