Calgary is enjoying a string of 32
consecutive months where home prices have increased. While this is great news
for the real estate agents and the market itself, it isn’t great news for those
who are having a hard time scraping together a down payment for a home while
paying high rents in this expensive city.
Over the past few months, the market has
seen a higher than average shift in focus from single family homes to condo
apartment and condo townhomes, and the reason is simple—they are cheaper, but
for those who are lost in the widening affordability gap it won’t matter, their
dream of owning a home will be pushed further and further into the future.
Well, maybe not necessarily. Created in
2009, the Attainable Homes Calgary Corporation seeks to change all that and get
qualified buyers into their own homes now rather than later. Yes, it is a real
thing and yes, they can help you, if you meet the criteria, move into your very
own home complete with all the amenities you want, close to parks, schools and
shopping, and located at sites all over the city. AHCC is a non-profit that is
a wholly owned subsidiary of The City of Calgary and they work to “deliver
well-appointed entry level homes for Calgarians who have been caught up in the
city’s growing affordability gap”. They work with seven different builders and
developers and has already sold homes in eleven different developments all over
the city including Mount Pleasant 1740, Westbury Park, ZEN in Balance, Treo at
Beacon Heights and SkyWest. Just recently they reached their first major
milestone: the 500th sale of an affordable new home for a happy
family.
Recently, they purchased property at 51 Oak
in the SE community of Mahogany which, upon completion next year will include
in-suite washer and dryer, granite countertops, cork flooring, maintenance free
decks with BBQ gas lines and a stainless steel appliance package. The best part
of the deal of course is the price—owners put $2000 down and get a minimum
mortgage of $201,400 and they are eligible to become homeowners. That is a far
cry from going the ‘ordinary’ route of finding a property and paying the
massive down payment while having a looming mortgage, no matter how low the
mortgage rates may be at the moment.
So what are the criteria?
-Your maximum household income is $90,000/
year for single or dual parent families with dependent children living at home.
-The maximum household income is
$80,000/year for singles or couples with no dependent children living at home.
-Your assets are less than $100,000 (excluding
such things as your primary vehicle, pension, RESP’s and RRSP’s)
-You can qualify for a mortgage and put
$2000 of your own money down on your new home.
-You
are willing to take part in their home education sessions and your attainable
home will be your primary residence.
Many people who are hearing about this
program for the first time wonder if it is real, and indeed it is, as the 500
people who are now homeowners can attest. They do it by bringing builders,
lenders, lawyers and insurance companies together to bring down the upfront
costs of purchasing a home and they work with three key elements: attractive
home prices, forgivable equity loans and a shared appreciation.
To date, 1500 people from all walks of life
have expressed interest in the program and more than 3,700 people have taken
part in the home education session which is one of the mandatory steps in the
process. The shared appreciation part of the experience allows you to make
money on your home (appreciation) when you go to sell, with percentages of this
appreciation (depending on how long you own the home) going back to AHCC to
help them fund other sites.
If you would like more information on the
great work that the Attainable Homes Calgary Corporation is doing you can visit
their website at www.attainablehomescalgary.ca.
