Workforce Housing a Collaborative Effort in New Mexico - 9/6/2004 - Mortgage Loan Refinance Debt Equity

Workforce Housing a Collaborative Effort in New Mexico

When completed, Pinon Trails will include 121 new single-family homes. The project will be built in four phases; the first phase includes 18 market-rate and 16 affordable units.

“This was a worthwhile project for us,” said builder Bruce Thompson. “Two years ago, the Los Alamos Housing Partnership put out an RFP. We looked at the numbers and decided we could make this work. We had a good business plan, and when the project comes together from a business standpoint, you can make the workforce housing component work.”

“We enjoyed working on the workforce housing aspect of this project,” Thompson added. “You really get the sense that you’ve done something positive for the community.”

Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) and New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish last week joined local housing partners at a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of phase one construction.

Pinon Trails is being developed by the Los Alamos Housing Partnership, Inc. (LAHP), with key assistance from the Los Alamos Public Schools. The partnership has pledged to build 50 affordable homes; 13 of them will be sold to school employees and the remaining 37 will be available to qualified families earning at or below 80% of the area median income of $66,000 or $52,800 for a family of four.

"Los Alamos has experienced incredible growth in recent years, and the city has little developable land with which to grow," said Udall. "I commend the partners for working together to help create more homeownership opportunities for working families.”

The Pinon Trails homes offer 10 floor plans in either Craftsman or Pueblo style. All of the homes are energy-efficient and will include front yard landscaping and drip irrigation, fenced backyards and garages.

Affordable homes are sold to qualified buyers at appraised value and LAHP carries a substantial second mortgage on the property. Buyers' effective sales prices range from $115,960 for a two-bedroom duplex to $172,035 for a four-bedroom single-family home. Additional subsidies are available to help buyers with lower incomes purchase homes.

The market rate homes are going for as much as $550,000, Thompson said.

While most of the development is single-family detached housing, there are a few duplexes, Thompson said. Some of the duplexes are Craftsman on one side and Pueblo style on the other side. “It works great,” he said. “The design is very well done.”

In an effort to provide affordable financing options for the purchase of homes at Pinon Trails, Los Alamos National Bank is partnering with Fannie Mae to offer the Community Solutions™ option under Fannie Mae's MyCommunityMortgage™ suite that makes it easier for educators, police officers, firefighters and health care workers to qualify for a mortgage.

MyCommunityMortgage is available to eligible home buyers earning at or below 100% of the area median income and with even higher incomes in underserved areas that have been designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The mortgage allows downpayments as low as $500 from the borrower's funds, and provides flexible credit requirements.

"We congratulate all the partners that made Pinon Trails a reality," said Steve Anaya, director of Fannie Mae's New Mexico Partnership Office. "Ensuring that working families continue to be able to live and work in the Los Alamos community is a top priority and takes the coordination and resources of multiple partners. We're happy to be part of the team."

Prospective first-time home buyers are qualified and receive home-buyer counseling through Homewise, Inc., a nonprofit housing agency that is working with LAHP.

For more information, e-mail Bill Renner at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8597.