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New Homes For Acres Homes
New homes are coming to Acres Homes!
The City of Houston is partnering with Oracle City Homes to develop homes near in three different sites in the Acres Homes community. Oracle City will oversee the new construction of 186 single-family homes, including 117 affordable homes and 69 market-rate homes. The development’s home designs have a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom single-family detached homes restricted to homeowners at 90% to 120% Area Median Income (AMI).
Through the Affordable Home Development Program, the City of Houston will contribute a forgivable loan of $2,190,000.00 from the Uptown TIRZ Series 2021 Affordable Homes Funds to finance the infrastructure for the mixed-income development.
Now accepting applications
About Acres Homes
Acres Home was developed around the time of World War l when it was settled by African Americans mainly from rural areas. During this time, a few landowners sold homesites by acres, hence the original name Acreage Home. The area was attractive to Americans because of inexpensive land prices, low taxes, and an agrarian lifestyle. The community has a mixture of land uses, with single-family residential as the majority (54%), followed by undeveloped land. Multi-family residential, parks, office and transportation occupy the less than one percent of uses.
Please visit the Superneighborhood 6 – Acres Homes page to learn more.
About The Developer
Mission Statement: Oracle City Homes is renowned for building impressive limited edition homes in hand-picked locations. Every home has our signature combination of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design.
Oracle City Homes has made a name for itself by building stunning yet functional limited edition urban homes in prime locations, with designs that emphasize outstanding craftsmanship and beauty. But more than this – behind every home is a wealth of skill that enables us to manage all areas of property development, from surveying and engineering to planning and legal. Our projects include private housing, partnership development, and mixed use..
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About the Affordable Home Development Program
Key Facts
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The program aims to create new homeownership opportunities for residents.
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Developments located across Houston.
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Developments are mixed-income. At least 40 homes in each AHDP development will be attainable to households earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income or less. For a family of four, for example, this would mean earning $106,300 or less as of 2022.
FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
Note: The following FAQ pertains to the City’s administration of the Affordable Home Development Program. The City’s developer partners may have additional program guidelines.
Q: How do I buy a home? - Answer
A: Homebuyers will purchase market and attainable rate homes directly through the developers. The City will partner with the developer to co-market and perform income eligibility reviews for the attainable rate homes.
Q: What role does the City have in the homebuyer process? - Answer
The City will partner with the developer to comarket the community. This includes cohosting community meetings, webinars, and the City’s New Homebuyer Interest Survey .
Additionally, the City will perform income eligibility reviews for homebuyers purchasing an attainable rate home.
Q: Can I use down payment assistance programs to help buy a home? - Answer
A: Homebuyers purchasing affordable or market rate homes may use down payment assistance programs available to them through their private mortgage lender or other entities.
Q: What do you mean by “attainable rate” homes? - Answer
A: Generally, rent or mortgage payments should not exceed 30% of household gross income. The City’s financial investment through the Affordable Home Development Program will decrease the purchase price from the current market rate to the homebuyer’s secured fixed rate mortgage to make homes more attainable.
Q: How will I know when homes are available to purchase? - Answer
A: The developer will market when the homes are available to purchase. HCD will also inform the community through the HCD Homebuyers Hub page, HCD social media, and through our New Homebuyer Interest Survey .
Q: How will the homebuyer process work? - Answer
A: The first step for every homebuyer will be to secure a 30-year fixed rate mortgage from a lender. For homebuyers purchasing a market-rate home, they will then continue the traditional homebuyer process.
Homebuyers purchasing an attainable-rate home will also need to attend a HUD-certified eight (8) hour homebuyer education course and earn up to 120% of the Area Median Income as determined by HUD when purchasing the home. The City’s financial investment through the Affordable Home Development Program will decrease the purchase price from the current market rate to the homebuyer’s secured fixed rate mortgage to meet the attainable home price.
Q: Is there an affordability period or secondary lien on the homes?- Answer
A: The City will not impose a secondary lien on market-rate homes.
The City will impose a five-year secondary lien on attainable rate homes. The secondary lien will be forgiven at the end of the five-year period. Please note that individual developers may impose a longer secondary lien on attainable rate homes.
Q: Will there be any difference between market-rate homes and attainable homes? - Answer
A: No, all homes will have the same construction quality, finishes, and appliances.
