10 families enjoy their new digs at below-market prices
Morgan Hill – It’s hard enough being a single mother. But surviving on a beginning teacher’s salary, too? More times than not, home ownership in the Bay Area would be out of reach.
This year, however, Sobrato High School teacher Frances Nance beat the odds. She and nine other low-to-moderate-income families caught a break from the Viale housing program, a joint effort between the city, county and a nonprofit agency that worked together to give teachers first dibs at 10 single-family detached homes at below-market prices. In March, the families moved into their new homes on Watsonville Road and Calle Sueno in Morgan Hill.
“It’s been the most wonderful thing that’s happened to me since the birth of my children,” said Nance, who has two sons ages 15 and 13. “I’ve been a single working mom for the last 15 years, and I never would have been able to afford a home and support my kids at the same time.”
Like many women in her situation, and teachers far and wide, Nance was finding it difficult to salt away money for a house.
It’s a problem the Viale program was designed to fix, one mortgage at a time, said project manager Betsy McGovern, who works for South County Housing, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Gilroy.
“In the Bay Area, it is a challenge recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers,” McGovern said. “It’s such a high-cost of living area. Offering affordable housing is crucial.”
A new survey from Prudential California Realty shows median home prices in Santa Clara County rose by 8 percent to $863,234 since the start of 2006, while the median price for condos was up 13 percent to $433,045. The historically slower housing market in South County is quickly catching up, with Gilroy prices climbing up to the $730,000 range.
McGovern said South County Housing worked closely with the Morgan Hill Unified School District to get the word out. It worked. Last year, 155 public service employees applied for 23 homes offered through Viale and another one of the nonprofit’s projects called Morgan Station. A pins-and-needles lottery determined some of the families who would benefit.
But Nance topped the list of needy applicants and skipped the draw. Even though she worked for years in the high tech industry, her paychecks now are modest, reflecting the cool reality of her newcomer status in the world of education. She has been teaching video production and editing at Sobrato for more than a year.
“So many teachers are getting their credentials and moving to Kansas,” she said, “or the Midwest, where they can afford to raise a family.”
The Viale program got off the ground two years ago. The Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency sold an acre of land to South County Housing, which in turn hired a developer to build two four-bedroom and eight three-bedroom houses, and an on-site “tot lot” playground.
McGovern said six homes went to Morgan Hill teachers, two went to local private school teachers, and the remaining two houses went to a Morgan Hill police officer and a San Jose firefighter.
The families represented three income levels: Low, median and high. Families at or below 60 percent of the average median income level – including Nance – were offered a sale price of $250,000. Families at or below 100 percent of the median income level were offered properties at $390,000. Families at 120 percent of the median income could buy at $450,000 to $485,000. Additional down payment assistance was provided by Santa Clara County Office of Affordable Housing and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a nonprofit organization.
“The reality of the situation is housing prices have gone up so astronomically they’re keeping public service employees out of the market,” Nance said. “But the dream is out there. For those people who think they’ll never be able to own a home, it’s possible.”
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 or tb*******@*************es.com.
