Amid a Bay Area-wide housing crunch, the city of Livermore on Wednesday will hold a lottery for first-time home buyers seeking to get the keys to an affordable abode.
The East Bay city every year holds a lottery to see who gets the first crack at the city's limited supply of affordable homes.
About 765 people who entered this year's lottery will be jockeying for 15 homes that developers are selling at below market rates.
Livermore is one of a few cities that strictly requires developers to sell some people homes at steep discounts. Those discounts equate to a three- or four-bedroom home normally priced anywhere from roughly $750,000 to more than $900,000 going for roughly $250,000 to about $400,000.
In order to actually benefit from the lottery, potential home buyers must meet low to moderate income limits, must put three percent down plus closing costs, have a FICO score of 660 and be a first-time buyer. The city also gives special preference to veterans, first responders and teachers.
"And the benefits of having a school teacher, one of your school teachers, being able to live in the area that they work in is a great benefit to the school and your children and to the whole community," Eric Uranga from the city said.
The deadline to enter the lottery has passed, but another lottery is slated to take place around this time next year.
