ATTAINABLE HOMES HITS 800-OWNERS MILESTONE
Down payment program helps middle-income Calgarians
When it comes to affording a new home, Bill Douros and Vicky Koutroumpi’s story is a familiar one.
The couple have been in the rental market since early 2014. But now, with two young children, their two-bedroom apartment was a “tight squeeze,” says Douros.
Getting approved for a mortgage wasn’t the challenge.
“The biggest problem is coming up with the down payment,” Douros says. His full-time job is in the IT industry and he fixes computers on the side. Koutroumpi teaches Greek.
He says they’ve tried to save for a deposit, “but every time we did, something came up.”
The family found a solution through Attainable Homes Calgary Corp., which runs a home-ownership program aimed at helping middle-income earning Calgarians afford the down payment on a new home.
Through the program, people can purchase a home for a down payment of $2,000. Applicants must qualify for a mortgage and not earn more than $80,000 annually. People with dependent children can earn up to $90,000.
The family’s purchase resulted in the 800th possession of units sold through the home-ownership program. A celebration was held at the development where they bought their home earlier this month to mark the milestone.
“I am very proud of Attainable Homes Calgary, a non-profit organization created and owned by the City of Calgary, and the work it does to provide home-ownership opportunities to middle-income Calgarians,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“It is incredibly important and goes a long way to ensuring every Calgarian has a roof over their head.
“So it was such a thrill for me to welcome our 800th homeowners — Bill, Vicky, and their two sons — to their new Attainable Home in Bowness.
“Attainable Homes makes a difference in citizens’ lives, and it is quite a thing to be a part of that,” he adds. They bought a three-bedroom townhome at Arrive at Bowness by Partners Development Group. Douros says the space is “almost double what we had.”
Attainable Homes obtains the units for its program in one of two ways. It purchases inventory from builder partners, who are interested in giving back to moderateincome Calgarians. The program also purchases properties itself, considering factors including proximity to amenities. Attainable then seeks a builder partner through a request-for-proposals process, which is the method used for Arrive at Bowness.
The Bowness site is the fifth time Partners has worked with Attainable Homes, following two developments in SkyView Ranch, and one each in Redstone and Evanston.
“We turned over our first six townhomes in our original Arrive at Skyview Ranch development in early 2013, through the Attainable Homes’ program,” says Partners Development president and founder Greg Gutek. “We saw first-hand the truly grateful and happy new homeowners that were introduced to us; everyday people who may not have been able to get into home ownership otherwise.
“After that, the Partners team made a decision to commit a minimum of 10 per cent of our future Calgary multi-family builds into this program,” he adds. “We are happy to see more quality builders also partnering with this initiative, as well.”
Along with Partners Development, current builders partnering with the program include Avi Urban, Hopewell Residential, Truman Homes, Highfield Residential and Vericon Real Estate Ventures.
While 800 possessions is a nice achievement for the program, Attainable’s president and CEO John Harrop says it’s even more pleasing to see the recent step up in interest.
Along with the economic downturn in and around 2016, many people involved in the residential industry saw a slower year for demand. Such is the case with Attainable’s home-ownership program, which currently has inventory in all four Calgary quadrants.
“It seems like consumer confidence has come back to our buyers,” says Harrop. “We celebrate the milestones but we’re excited that people are starting to feel confident about the economy again.
“We’re getting a lot more traffic through the door, and sales have picked up.”
It is incredibly important and goes a long way to ensuring every Calgarian has a roof over their head.