Whether it’s Dublin, Livermore or Pleasanton, it seems there’s more and more construction. Off Vineyard Avenue in Pleasanton, a new luxury home development has already started its early stages. Near Tassajara Road in East Dublin, a single family home development appears to be making good progress. In this environment with more housing opportunities comes good news for those trying to get into the home-ownership game.
All five Tri-Valley cities are providing a new down payment assistance program that would give qualified first-time home buyers $10,000 to put toward either the down payment or closing costs. Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center Executive Director Milly Seibel said it took three years, but she’s excited for the program that officially launched Monday. “What this program does is allows a first-time home buyer to get into a home they otherwise would not qualify for, so it gives them the ability to have great purchasing power.”
Sarah Hosterman, 29, of Livermore remembered how she needed help with her down payment when she tried to buy a house two years ago. “Dreams of home ownership kind of were destroyed because I realized I couldn’t afford anything.” That’s when her realtor, Karen Crowson, took her to the TVHOC to get her the help she needed.
“Most of them don’t have the savings for the down payment, plus closing costs, and when they’re looking at trying to compete, that makes it rough.”
The housing center got the grant after Livermore city officials wrote to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Three years later, the federal government finally approved it, granting $150,000 – enough to help up to 15 families a year. “As the funds are repaid, it will be an ongoing program,” Seibel explained. “It’s on a first-come, first-serve basis, and it’s income-eligibility limited.”
Hosterman knows firsthand how big of a difference that will make for first-time buyers. “Somebody like me will be able to pay it forward, in the future so I’ll be able to pay my loan back. Then the center will be able to re-give that loan to another young person who had the same dream I did.”
For more information, please visit www.tvhoc.org
