ANAHEIM : City Offers Aid to Draw Home Buyers
Hoping to attract more homeowners to the central city area, Anaheim is offering new assistance programs and beefing up existing financial aid to help renters and first-time home buyers.
Three programs--one for buying condominiums, another for buying homes and one for housing rehabilitation--offer about $1.2 million in financial aid.
Those who have their sights set on homes or condominiums in the city’s targeted area and can produce 5% of the down payment can receive a low-interest loan for 15% of the down payment, up to $25,000.
For current residents who bought fixer-uppers and need help financing their housing rehabilitation goals, the city offers similar low-interest home-improvement loans for up to $15,000.
The people who have taken out loans have “been a lot of people who have been renting in the area,” said Eric Nichol, housing development manager. “We haven’t been seeing a lot of people coming from the outside.”
Mayor Fred Hunter praised the effort to encourage home ownership in central Anaheim. “People will come in and buy those homes at a good price and fix them up,” Hunter said. “We have affordable housing in Anaheim, all we have to do is save it.”
Properties available for assistance are those in the area bound by La Palma Avenue and West, South and East streets. Nichol pointed to the economic growth in that area, with the city’s massive downtown development under way, as a reason to encourage home improvement and ownership.
The area was targeted to receive funding because it is under redevelopment, and state law mandates that 20% of tax money routed from a redevelopment area to the city is earmarked for affordable housing.
Those with moderate incomes--about $58,900 for a family of four, according to county standards--are eligible.
Interest on loans for buying and fixing up homes is set at 5%. Loans for condominiums are offered through a local bank at 2% below current rates, now about 7%.
