Arlington County is increasing the amount of money it can loan low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers, the first time it has raised its cap in six years.
Assistance Program
Property must be in Arlington County.
Eligible low- and moderate-income households must be first-time homebuyers, defined as those who have not owned a house in the previous three years.
Applicants must contribute a minimum of $2,000 of their own funds toward the purchase of the home.
Assistance is a second mortgage with a deferred payment and low interest rate.
The loan can cover all closing costs not paid by the seller, up to a maximum of three discount points, and a portion of the required down payment.
Conventional, VA or VHDA mortgages are eligible for the first mortgage.
Single-family houses, duplexes, townhouses and condominiums qualify.
Current employment or residency in Arlington is not required.Source: Arlington County government
The county will raise its loan limit to $90,700 from $25,000, although the county estimates that most loans will fall in the $50,000-$70,000 range.
The new cap on help through the Moderate Income Purchase Assistance Program provides assistance of up to 25 percent of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s purchase price limit of $362,790.
Previously, the program provided a flat amount of $25,000 in assistance, said Ken Aughenbaugh, the county’s affordable-housing chief. He said the $25,000 has not kept up with increasing home prices in the county over the past five years.
“It’s a significant increase to the amount of loan [buyers] could obtain in the county,” he said. “Hopefully, that will make some folks more able to have the opportunity to purchase.”
He added that there has been some flattening of home values in recent years, but still not enough to keep up with the $25,000 loan limit.
With $1.2 million in the program, the increase could help up to 15 to 20 households buy their first home this year. The income limit for the program is 80 percent of the area median income, which was $99,000 in 2008, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“This long-overdue improvement of our program to assist low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers comes at just the right moment,” said Board Chairman Barbara Favola. “Now more than ever before, families with limited incomes need help to purchase their first homes.”
The board also reserved $737,500 in the program for the purchase of homes at Davis Place, a new affordable-housing development in the Nauck Neighborhood and the first new-home construction project in four years designed to work with the county’s affordable homeownership program.
The Arlington Housing Corp. is developing the 10-unit affordable condominium project on 17th Street South in Nauck, and will house families earning less than 80 percent of the area median income. Construction is expected to be completed in June.
