With interest rates low and demand high, cities of the Tri-Valley are constantly working to provide housing for diverse income levels. In Danville, the median cost of a home is $600,000, according to the Bayeast Association of Realtors.
How can a first time homebuyer or a recently single parent afford to buy a home in such an expensive market? Danville along with the cities of San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore have teamed up to create the Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center, a “one-stop shop” with everything from affordable rental information to down payment assistance.
The five Tri-Valley cities and Alameda and Contra Costa counties first created the Tri-Valley Affordable Housing Committee. The idea of an actual center was talked about for years, said Jill Bergman, associate planner and affordable housing liaison for Danville. Eventually the committee got enough grant money from the federal government to bring the clearinghouse to fruition.
“We will be able to share the resources that we have with everybody,” said Bergman. “It’s very challenging to find housing in this area that’s affordable. This will be one area where you can come and say, ‘Help! What can I afford?’ and you will really have a counselor to help you.”
The free Tri-Valley Housing Expo 2005 kicked off the planned August opening of the Housing Opportunity Center last Saturday, where mortgage lenders like Washington Mutual, nonprofit groups like Bridge Housing, and insurance companies like Farmers Insurance set up informational booths at the Carr America Center in Pleasanton. Visitors were able to walk around to the various booths, pick up information, and ask all of their housing questions. The expo was a sampling of what the housing center is hoping to offer.
While each city faces its own challenges and policies, all five are mandated by the state to provide housing to people of very low; low; moderate; and above moderate housing. The total number comes from the state Department of Housing and Community Development but the Association of Bay Area Governments breaks the number down into the different income levels.
It advised in its 1999-2006 plan that Danville provides 140 very low; 88 low; 216 moderate; and 666 above moderate income units of housing. The town is to factor these recommendations from ABAG into the housing element of its general plan. In 2002, Danville’s housing element report was certified by the state. Danville was the only Tri-Valley city that was able to meet the state’s goals.
The goals were met in large part because of the completion of a low-moderate income housing senior center called Sycamore Place. The town teamed up with Bridge Housing, a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting affordable housing in the Bay Area, to build the 74 unit affordable housing complex for seniors – the first in Danville’s history. Despite the town’s steady progress in providing affordable housing, the town recognizes that providing affordable housing for a wide swath of people is still an uphill challenge.
“We get the same kind of questions here as any other city. What can we do to keep our kids here?” said Karen Stepper, vice mayor of Danville and liaison for the Tri-Valley Affordable Housing Committee. Stepper attended the expo and was pleased by the turnout.
“People don’t know what’s out there. They need to come out and see what is available,” said Stepper.
Two seminars were also presented at the expo. One talked about credit and debt counseling, and the other outlined the fundamentals to homeownership.
“Credit is the most important thing,” said Sima Betpera, a senior loan consultant at Washington Mutual. Many young prospective homebuyers do not realize the importance of good credit. Nathan Ellis in his seminar on credit and debt counseling emphasized paying down debt as quickly as possible and encouraged people to contact the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) to request a copy of their credit report, which everyone is entitled to check once a year.
John Moore, who participated in Pleasanton’s first time homebuyers program, shared some advice with the audience. “I thought qualifying with the city was hard, but qualifying for the mortgage was the tricky part. Your credit scores weigh heavily. You have to be organized and disciplined,” he said.
In the other seminar, a lender, an insurance agent, a Livermore city employee, a Realtor and an official from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spoke about the various stages of homebuying.
The expo brought to light affordable options for first time buyers in the Tri-Valley. Many of the banks spoke about their partnerships with agencies like the California Housing Finance Agency, the state’s affordable housing bank. CalHFA offers assistance programs that help people of a certain income with their down payment and closing costs.
“We are the state’s best kept secret,” Ken Gibel, director of marketing for CalHFA. “You don’t need 20 percent for a down payment. The general public still has that in their mind. That’s what CalHFA allows them to do.”
Judging from the 400-plus people who attended the expo, the new housing opportunity center is a much needed community resource.
“There was one young lady from Danville here. I asked her, ‘Why don’t you have a home?'” said Richard Thierry, an account executive at the Bank of America in Danville. “She said she didn’t have the money. But then she was surprised and happy to see that ways do exist.”
Once the center is up and running in Livermore, employees will conduct outreach programs and workshops in other cities. The eventual goal is satellite offices in all of the Tri-Valley cities, including Danville, said Millie Seibel, Housing Center spokeswoman and part of Livermore’s Housing and Human Services Division.
For information on affordable housing in Danville, contact Jill Bergman at 314-3369. To contact the Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center, call 373-3930.
