1622 South Dearborn Street
Seattle, WA 98122

open sold out
developer representative Steve Snider
phone 206.714.2404
email Steve Snider
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Home Style 2 BR townhomes
Price Range $227,800
Square Footage 976-1,134
Neighborhood International District
Features
  • modern exterior design
  • contemporary room style and open floorplans
  • Brazilian cherry hardwood floors
  • maple wood cabinets
  • large outdoor patios
  • Energy Star rated appliances
  • spacious walk-in closets
  • radiant cove heaters
  • vaulted ceilings
  • oversized windows with abundant natural light
  • landscaped community p-patch
  • onsite playground area for kids

Nova Townhomes

SOLD OUT!

Background
Nova is a townhome community of 15 homes developed by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). The land for the community was donated by the City of Seattle and the Washington State Housing Trust Fund donated $500,000 to help with the development of the site. In addition to these donations the City of Seattle Office of Housing contributed up to $45,000 in down payment assistance for each qualified buyer. To ensure the continued affordability of these homes, Homestead Community Land Trust was involved to act as a steward for the land.

Challenge
In order to purchase a home at Nova, purchasers had to be a first-time home buyer and make no more than 80% of median income or $55,000 for King County. With a purchase price of $272,800 this gave buyers a very narrow qualification window where they had to make enough money to qualify but not exceed the income limits. Buyers were required to have little or no previous debt, which created a further problem of lack of credit. An additional challenge was the concept of buying into a land trust. This is not common practice in our area and buyers were wary since they would not own the land.

Solution
Matrix Real Estate assigned Carrie DeBruler, one of their top agents, to Nova Townhomes. After gaining an excellent understanding of the land trust and financing requirements, Carrie was able to explain the benefits of purchasing at NOVA. Matrix Developer Representative Steve Snider organized weekly meetings with Guild Mortgage, Homestead Community Land Trust, and LIHI to review the current buyers financing in detail. The meetings were spent discussing individual buyer challenges and finding solutions for each buyer to keep the loan moving forward. Homestead Community Land Trust would then meet personally with each buyer to explain the program and mission of the land trust.

Results
Every home at Nova was sold within two months of the grand opening. Previously in communities similar to Nova it took writing three offers to get one firm sale because of the strict requirements and challenges for the buyers. However at Nova, with only a few exceptions, the Matrix team was able to keep deals together through clear communication and strong teamwork.