Charlotte’s San Francisco Real Estate Blog

I spoke to a group of potential first-time homebuyers last week at SF Urban’s second Thursday of the month 6:30 pm meeting. What I appreciated most from my time with this particular group of people was realizing that despite the gloom in the housing market, people still need, want, and are able to purchase homes. The City of San Francisco has a number programs, the DALP (Down Payment Assistance Loan Program) being only one among them. It is possible to “layer” programs- to use the DALP, and the City’s Program for Teachers (Teacher Next Door) or Police in the Community, or  Second Loan Program (for Townhomes only) or The MCC Mortgage Credit - A Federal Income Tax credit for mortgage interest paid above the existing deduction.   it is somewhat mind-boggling to me that these multiple programs can be layered. It made me somewhat envious as I was unaware of any available assistance when I was getting started with my first apartment purchase. All I can say is, if you qualify for this kind of help you are lucky and should go for it.  Anybody who doesn’t think America is still the land of opportunity is not paying attention.  

This Saturday, February 21st I will giving another First Time Homebuyers Seminar, this time with my friend Yvonne Meyers from Wells Fargo. This one will be held at The Sports Basement Community Center, at 1500 Bryant St. (just off Potrero Ave.) from 10AM-12AM. Seating is limited, so you may want to RSVP to me at charlotteerwin@zephyrsf.com. We will be discussing how to apply for the DALP and talk specifically about houses and condos that qualify for the program in San Francisco. I especially welcome Russian, French, and Portugese speakers. I partner with a good friend who is a Russian native who will be available to translate for you if need be, and I speak enough Portugese and French to get by if either of those are your native languages. English is great too! You can Do This!

Buying property in San Francisco is still largely unaffordable for many people. Prices have dropped, interest rates are low, but you still have to strategize, plan, and work awfully hard to make it happen. Fortunately, there are a lot of resources and people who want to help you.

SF Urban is a non-profit dedicated to helping families get qualified to buy homes and to creating additional affordable housing in San Francisco. They offer free first-time home home buyer education including workshops and one-on-one counseling to low and medium income households.

Their website is www.sfurbanchc.org

Another resource you may be unaware of is San Francisco’s First Time Homebuyer downpayment assistance loan program, nicknamed “DALP” for short. I’ve blogged about this before; but it bears repeating: San Francisco will lend you up to 30% of the cost of condo or single family residence priced and sized according to the size of your family, number of dependents, and income, up to purchase prices of $679,000. The maximum household income for a single person is $79,900; single people with no dependents qualify for 1 bedroom units. You do not pay anything on the loan until you sell the property, at which time, you repay the loan and the City participates in profit on the property. If you do not sell, you start repaying the loan some twenty years later; a generous time frame by any definition. The program requires that you go through SF URBAN’s or a similar homeowner education process, which will take a seven-eight hours spread out in a couple of sessions.