BUENA PARK : $1 Million Sought for Home Buyers Program

The city’s program for first-time home buyers may be eligible for an extra $1 million, redevelopment officials said.

The City Council this week approved a grant application to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which announced in July that $28.4 million of housing funds are available to cities.

The city has lent money to 15 families for down payments on first homes since receiving a $500,000 grant in 1993, said May Hui, assistant director of Development Services.

Should the city win the new grant, it would be able to lend to another 28 families, according to a staff report. The city receives two to three calls a week from potential buyers interested in the program, Hui said. Their names are added to a waiting list.

“We loan them the money for the down payment on a house or a portion of the down payment,” Hui said. “A lot of people can make the monthly payments. It’s the down payment that is the problem.”

The loans, which carry a 5% annual interest rate, are paid back over 30 years or when the house is sold.

City officials expect to learn the outcome of the grant application in December.