For a school teacher to own a home in Mountain View, he or she probably needs to be independently wealthy — or, as in the case of David Franklin, extremely lucky.
Franklin, 32 and a third grade teacher at Bubb Elementary School, had only known life in the Bay Area living with roommates or in a small studio. In his most recent living arrangement, he was paying close to $1,000 a month for a very small studio — too small, he said, to entertain friends or have family stay over.
With a son to take care of in a region where rental rates are high, living was cramped, he said. But then Franklin got lucky.
Last August he got a call from the Housing Authority of Santa Clara County telling him he’d qualified to purchase a “below market rate” home in the new Classic Communities town homes development on Evandale Avenue. Below market rate, or BMR, meant Franklin could purchase a home at a price adjusted to fit his income. He was one of only three Mountain View teachers picked for the highly coveted prize. (The other two declined to be interviewed for this story.)
“I feel very lucky,” Franklin said. “I’m going to stay there for as long as I can. It actually has a lot of the features of my dream house. It has a huge great room. It’s three stories.”
“Honestly,” he added, “if I hadn’t gotten this house, I would have left [Mountain View].”
Big plans
Franklin has big plans for his 1,621-square-foot home. He bought new appliances, picked out new tiles and flooring, and has started thinking about window treatments.
“There are three bedrooms and three and a half baths. I’m freaking out,” he said. “I have a fireplace. I’ve never had a fireplace.”
His end unit faces Highway 101 had has a nice view of Hangar One, he said. “I can see the mountains from behind San Jose. I love it, it’s my home.”
Best of all, he says, his new place will give him a boost in his personal life.
“This is somewhere for me to have a hub for my friends and family to come and barbeque and have dinner and watch the Super Bowl. You know I’ve never really been able to do that. It’s kind of like a new chapter in my life where I can do that. And my parents won’t have to stay in a hotel when they visit. So there are lots of good things that come of it,” he said.
“It’s like winning the lottery. It’s basically like winning a house. I have to pay for it, but it’s unheard of.”
There are some restrictions, however. Franklin must occupy the property at all times during his ownership. He also has to live in the home for 55 years before he can sell it at market value. If he chooses to sell the home before then, the city adjusts the value to one-third of the consumer price index.
“I plan to stay there for at least 15 years,” Franklin said. “Especially since my son’s here, I won’t be leaving.”
Popular program
Mountain View’s BMR program is so attractive that more than 50 people applied, including 13 teachers, Franklin said. To qualify as a one-person household, the annual income limit is $74,300, while the limit for a four-person household is $106,100, according to Linda Lauzze, city administrative and neighborhood services manager.
The city awards BMR units first to Mountain View public safety officers such as policemen or firefighters, then to teachers, then to people who have lived in Mountain View for two of the last four years, and finally to people who have worked in Mountain View two of the last four years, Lauzze said.
In theory, the affordable units are a side product of new development in Mountain View. Under the BMR program, developers must either build one affordable unit for every 10 higher-priced units or pay an “in lieu” fee of 3 percent on the actual sales price of each of the units in the development, Lauzze said.
In the case of Classic Communities, the developer chose the former, though many go for the latter. In fact, Lauzze said, while there has been a lot of construction lately in Mountain View, developers have mostly chosen to pay the fee.
As a result, only eight below market rate units have been available since the city adopted the BMR program in 1999, she said.
Those collected fees are intended to be used to build more affordable housing units by the city itself. Progress has been slow on that front, although a downtown family rental project is currently underway, and the city is reviewing proposals from different developers, Lauzze said.
However they get built, if David Franklin’s experience is any indication, they will be warmly received.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said.•
INFORMATION:
Those interested in the BMR program can be put on an “interest list,” and will be notified should any units become available. For additional information or to be included on the list, contact Diana Moreno of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority at (408) 361-4643.
