Solano Real Estate Scene: Jim Porter
Article By: Jim Porter – July 12, 2024
When I heard the 2024 version of Dream for All was only going to be available to first-generation homebuyers, it sounded unfair to hard-working first-time homebuyers who were going to be blacklisted because their parents owned a house.
Now that the results are in, and 18,000 buyers qualified for the 1,800 golden tickets, I realize this first-generation qualifier was probably a good idea to limit the numbers. If this lottery had been available to all lender-qualified first time homebuyers, I would estimate 100,000 applicants would have entered, and 98,200 potential buyers would have walked away disappointed and have to climb back up on the fence to buy a home at a later date.
Below is CALHFA’s definition:
A first-generation homebuyer is defined as a homebuyer who has not been on title, held an ownership interest or have been named on a mortgage to a home (on permanent foundation and owned land) in the United States in the last 7 years, AND;
To the best of the homebuyer’s knowledge whose parents (biological or adoptive) do not have any present ownership interest in a home in the United States or if deceased whose parents did not have any ownership interest at the time of death in a home in the United States, OR;
An individual who has at any time been placed in foster care or institutional care (type of out of home residential care for large groups of children by non-related caregivers).
Only two of my team’s 20 lottery buyers got picked last week, and three were told they are on some type of waiting list. My team had our fingers and toes crossed because for most of these first-generation home buyers, the 20% shared appreciation down payment from the state of California wasn’t bonus money, it was the amount they needed to be able to afford homes in their desired neighborhoods.
Most of these disappointed people can still qualify right now but the amount of the sales price is on average now $100,000 less, which is a huge difference in markets like Solano County.
For you as a reader to understand how big $100,000 is, just look on realtor.com and see what you can buy in Solano County for $550,000 and compare this to what is available at $450,000. Keep in mind, a first-time home buyer is defined as a person that has not owned a home in the past three tax years, and there are plenty of down payment assistance programs out there for first-time buyers and those that have not owned since 2020.
Jump over the fence!
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
