San Francisco Redevelopment Agency

As stated above, all affordable homes are sold through the Limited Equity Program, which is described below.

General Information and Requirements:

In order to be eligible for the Agency's Below Market Rate (BMR) homes, a potential owner must meet the following requirements:

• First time home buyer: Purchaser cannot have owned a home in the past three years.
• Income Eligibility: Current household income cannot be more than the percentage of Area Median Income specified for the home.
• Down payment: Homebuyer must make a downpayment of at least 5% of purchase price (2% or more can be in the form of a gift, but at least 3% must be from the buyers funds).
• Program Restrictions: Homebuyers must read and sign all Agency documents, which outline the occupancy and resale restrictions of the program.
• Mortgage: Homebuyers must be able to qualify for and obtain a first mortgage from an accredited financial institution.  The Agency allows only 30-year, fixed rate, fully ammortizing mortgages.
• ^NEW! Counseling:  Applicants must now have a certificate from an approved housing counseling organization (see Resources page for list) in order to be entered into lotteries for available homes.  A certificate from an approved housing counseling organization is NOT a Certificate of Preference.

Generally, affordable homes are priced for and restricted to households earning between 55% and 120% of Area Median Income (AMI), with emphasis on households earning less than 100% of Area Median Income. All home sales are now part of the Agency's Limited Equity Program, which is explained in more detail below. Available units are listed on this site and on the Mayor's Office of Housing Website, MOH Current Listings. Developers of new projects are required to perform extensive advertising of affordable homes, so watch the newspapers. Also, Agency staff maintains a mailing list of those interested in BMR homes. If you would like to be on that list, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Once you are aware of and interested in a unit, stay tuned for instructions as to the selection process. There is generally a lottery for each specific site or unit. First preference is given to households previously displaced by past redevelopment activity ( see Certificate of Preference).

Limited Equity Homeownership Program:

All of the Agency's affordable homes are now part of the Limited Equity Program ("Program"). The Program's main goals are to create permanently affordable home ownership units and to offer participants an alternative to renting that allows them to build some equity while also enjoying tax deductions and other benefits of home ownership. Prospective buyers who meet the Agency's eligibility criteria can purchase the homes at affordable prices. In return, when they are ready to sell, participants must sell the homes at affordable prices to eligible households. The initial purchase and subsequent resale prices are linked to affordability at specific percentages of AMI. Therefore, owner equity is determined largely by the buying power of the new, eligible buyer at the time of resale, and not by the market value of the home. This system allows many generations of homebuyers to access affordable homes.