{"id":811,"date":"2007-05-30T11:00:58","date_gmt":"2007-05-30T18:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/30\/genuine-but-misguided-parade-of-affordable-homes\/"},"modified":"2007-05-30T11:02:06","modified_gmt":"2007-05-30T18:02:06","slug":"genuine-but-misguided-parade-of-affordable-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/30\/genuine-but-misguided-parade-of-affordable-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Genuine but Misguided: Parade of Affordable Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I caught a press release<\/a> this morning in my inbox for something called the Parade of Affordable Homes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Parade of Affordable Homes(SM) event is designed to be both fun and educational for those contemplating homeownership for the first time. This event is free and open to the public and organizers encourage you to visit http:\/\/www.affordablehomeparade.org\/<\/a> to browse Parade Showcase Homes and plan your personalized tour.The Parade of Affordable Homes will initially take place in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties and will last over two weekends, June 16 -17 and June 23 – 24. Almost thirty traditional and non-profit builders have joined the Tacoma-to-Everett Parade to showcase a variety of homes priced from $160,000 to $350,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So far, their website showcases a grand total of 29 homes<\/a>, with all but 5 of them clocking in at the top of the range, with sticker prices of $350,000. By my calculations, a $350,000 house is “affordable” (as in, the mortgage principal + interest payment on a 30-year fixed is no more than 30% of gross income) to families with incomes of $69,000 or more, assuming they are somehow able to pony<\/span> up the $70,000 down payment, that is. That sounds like the average King County family. Most people I<\/em> know have an entire year’s salary sitting in the bank… not.<\/p>\n

“With the high cost of housing in the Puget Sound, many working families are essentially locked out of homeownership,” states Jeff Caden, the Executive Director of WHC. “The goal of the Parade of Affordable Homes is to provide information to prospective, lower-income, first-time homebuyers about the available gap financing programs that may allow them to achieve home ownership. Most eligible people aren’t aware of these programs, and the Parade of Affordable Homes event can be critical in spreading the word while linking them with more affordable housing inventory.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although I am aware of many such programs, I haven’t looked extensively at the details of the kinds of “gap financing” programs Mr. Caden is referring to. They must be some pretty amazing programs though, if they’re targeting “lower-income” (i.e. – below median, likely with little to no savings) families with homes that are barely even in reach of a median household with a far-greater-than-median down payment saved up.<\/p>\n

It is hoped that as a result of this event, buyers’ perceptions about their first home will begin to return to that of a modest, yet comfortable, “starter home”. According to research done by WHC, one of the greatest barriers to homeownership for first-time buyers is “not finding a home that they like.” Caden adds, “We hope that our clients can reset their expectations so they can return to living within 1100 square feet as well as within their means.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay first off, the “starter home” concept makes no sense at all when you actually run the numbers. I’ll save the details of that for a later post. Secondly, as long as we’re “reseting expectations” here, how about we figure out that home “ownership,” while certainly desirable, is not the be-all, end-all of existence. When it makes far more financial sense to rent, why are we encouraging lower-income families to buy?<\/p>\n

Their heart seems to be in the right place, but their heads… not so much.<\/p>\n

(Washington Homeownership Center, Press Release<\/a>, 05.30.2007<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I caught a press release this morning in my inbox for something called the Parade of Affordable Homes: The Parade of Affordable Homes(SM) event is designed to be both fun and educational for those contemplating homeownership for the first time. 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