Atlantic City residents looking to buy their first home could pay less than half for newly built $400,000 houses under a program announced Monday, officials said.
The city is investing $1 million— $100,000 each for 10 units — being built in the city, the mayor said as he stood in front of four of the homes at Beach and Gramercy avenues.
“We don’t look at it as giving money away,” Mayor Marty Small said. “We are investing in the fabric of our community.
“Charity starts at home,” he added.
Atlantic City residents who want to be considered will have to apply to the program starting Aug. 5, on the city’s website , and will be put into a lottery.
The city will not be administering the program, Small said.
“No one is hooking up friends. No one is hooking up family,” he said. “If they qualify, they qualify.”
There are no income caps, Small said, adding that the program is “for any person who chooses to put their anchor here in the city of Atlantic City.”
“Why should success be punished?” he asked when a reporter presented a scenario where someone who has the money to “buy anywhere” being eligible.
The homes are worth $400,000 each, but the city’s commitment takes it down to $300,000, the mayor said. Another $100,000 from the nonprofit New Jersey Community Capital means the buyer’s cost would be half.
But it could come down even more for those who meet certain criteria, Business Administrator Anthony Swan said.
That includes first-time home buyer and Community Development Block Grant programs “if you qualify,” Swan stressed.
“Conceivably, you can get this house down to maybe $125,000,” he said.
“There will be strings attached,” Swan warned, including taking a first-time homebuyer’s course.
“We’re not looking to put people in a house who are not able to sustain a house,” Swan said.
The home also cannot be rented out, used as an Airbnb or be used to take out a second mortgage. There will also be a minimum time for living in the home.
Councilwoman-at-Large Stephanie Marshall said the time limit goes by quicker than you think.
The Atlantic City native told the story about how she returned to the city after graduating college in 2001, and went to Ernest Coursey — the mayor’s now chief of staff — for guidance.
“I went to college. I graduated. I came back home,” she told him. “I need help purchasing a home.”
He gave her a flyer, she took some classes and got the house she was told she must stay in for 10 years.
“I thought, that’s a long time” she said Monday.
This month she marks 20 years in the home.
“I’m never leaving the city and probably never leaving my home,” she said.
Selected lottery winners also will be asked to be part of the lottery forum, meeting on a quarterly basis to chart the experience
Jay Lee, director of asset management for Community Capital, said it’s important for people to know about such programs.
“We need to have the right economic mobility in the city,” he said. “We’re unaware of access. We’re unaware of information that there’s a door you can knock on that can change the trajectory of your life.”
The next six homes will be built on city property along North Maryland Avenue between Artic and Baltic avenues.
A tour of one of the homes followed the news conference.
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