Affordable Housing

Affordable Homeownership

DRA has advised numerous government agencies on the structuring and establishment of low and moderate income first-time homebuyer programs. DRA advises these clients on program design and policy issues such as income targeting, market issues, key underwriting policies, leveraged financing sources, and documentation. Clients include Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, the California cities of Oakland, San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, the Arizona Family Housing Fund in Phoenix, and others.

Las Vegas, Nevada (Clark County) Community Land Trust

DRA advised Clark County Nevada on the design, development and implementation of the first subdivision level community land trust (CLT) in Nevada. DRA negotiated mortgage lender commitments to the CLT, including preservation of resale restrictions and CLT ground leases in the event of foreclosure. DRA drafted program guidelines and provided guidance for key program documents, including ground lease, resale restriction and County subordinate loan documents, an emergency foreclosure assistance fund, along with developer agreements.

Ginnie Mae: California Target Investment Initiative

DRA served as financial consultant to Ginnie Mae in the design and development of the California Target Investment Initiative.  This mortgage-backed security program provided affordable homeownership opportunities to first-time homebuyers in impacted census tracts and central city geographies throughout California. DRA assisted in analyzing the prepayment speeds of similar mortgages, structured a security which evidenced slower prepayment speeds and provided associated benefits to MBS investors. These benefits were passed on to the homebuyers in the form of a lower interest rate on the underlying mortgages. This Initiative was combined with a marketing effort to insurance company institutional investors operating in California under the California Organized Investment Network (COIN), a reinvestment program for insurers interested in community development investments.

Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), First-Time Homebuyer Project Analysis

DRA served as development and financial consultant to CRA/LA, now the Los Angeles Housing & Community Investment Department (HCID), on its pipeline of affordable homeownership projects. DRA reviewed the reasonableness of all development cost and sales price assumptions based on current market and economic conditions.  DRA also reviewed the developer’s calculations of affordable home prices and their consistency with regulatory and underwriting guidelines of all financing sources.

Community-Based Non-Profit First-Time Homebuyer Program

DRA advised a community-based development corporation on all aspects of its First-Time Homebuyer Program, which has successfully completed more than 80 units.  DRA assisted in obtaining Redevelopment Housing Set-Aside and County HOME funding to make these units affordable to very low, low and moderate income households. The program includes a lease-purchase component that has enabled families with incomes as low as 45 percent of area median income to purchase a home. In addition to securing financing, DRA advised on the preparation of purchase and sales agreements, lease documents, resale restrictions, second mortgage notes, deeds of trusts and other documents necessary to implement the program.

First-Time Homebuyer Programs

DRA developed First-Time Homebuyer Programs for numerous cities, including financial analysis of alternative income targeting scenarios, program policy and underwriting guidelines, and the preparation of purchase and sales agreements, resale restrictions, second mortgage notes, deeds of trust and other documents necessary to implement the program.