Helping Millennials find affordable housing in the Bay Area

Loan officer: Jared Silveria. Property: Single-family home in the Havenscourt district of Oakland. Home price: $405,000. Loan terms: $324,000; 30-year fixed rate at 4 percent with no points. Back Story: A single woman discouraged by high and rising Bay Area home prices was also distressed at her high rent costs. Realizing that rising Oakland real estate prices would likely continue and make her dream of homeownership ever-elusive, she called Jared Silveria to look into her options.

The key was to determine what she could afford, as well as qualify for, and then to locate a home that met those parameters. To make her payment affordable, Silveria suggested she ask her parents for a gift toward her down payment and also look into the possibility of borrowing against her 401K plan at work.

From those sources (and adding some of her own savings), it was determined that she could qualify for and afford a home in the $400,000 price range. Realizing that it would be a problem to find a home at that price, Silveria introduced her to a local real estate agent who promptly started scouring emerging markets to find the perfect starter house.

While competition was fierce and she did not get the first house she made an offer on, she was in contract by the second offer and the escrow process started. Silveria lined up favorable fixed rate financing and worked through a challenging short time frame to close escrow on time. The client is now enjoying the benefits of being a homeowner and earning equity in her first home.

When the home buyer originally spoke with Silveria she was unsure if she would even qualify for a mortgage, but the whole process of finding a home and closing escrow only took about six weeks. Many Millennials are unwilling to enter the market because they think they cannot afford to buy, but there are still so many affordable Oakland neighborhoods, along with creative solutions to get financing, that the dream of homeownership is very attainable. Jared Silveria, Holmgren and

Associates, (925) 350-9845, jared@mortgageholmgren.com.