Mission: Affordable

Moderate-Income Buyers Get Condos With Government Help

In the summer of 2005, Arlington County handed Arlington deputy sheriff Jun Emmanuel Gan what amounted to a golden ticket redeemable for a discounted $220,000 two-bedroom condo, which had a market value of $232,000.

Gan, 29, had been randomly chosen by lottery for a condo unit through the county's employer-assisted housing (EAH) program, which connects condo developers with employees from the Arlington County Government, Arlington Public Schools, nonprofit developer AHC, George Mason University, Marymount University and Virginia Hospital Center.

Through the program, residents such as Gan, who make more than the standard affordable housing income limit, can buy homes at below-market prices. All of these condominiums are located in Arlington.

When Gan and his wife, Rowena, a direct-mail list manager, were given the option to buy in the spring of 2005, they had a combined annual income of $75,000.

Earlier, the Gans had visited a lender to gauge their financing options for purchasing a home. They had been renting a garden apartment in south Arlington for two years.

"We were pretty much turned down," he said. "The way housing prices were at that time, we realized we were not going to be able to buy."

A month later, when Gan saw a memo on his office's bulletin board about homeownership assistance available to government employees, he jumped at the opportunity. After sending in an application, the Gans were soon picked from a pool of work force applicants to purchase a unit at Dominion Terrace, a development off of Lee Highway that IDI Group recently converted into condos.

He and Rowena moved in mid-September of 2005. The 800-square-foot unit came with new carpeting, a refrigerator, dishwasher, stove and oven.

"Now, we're not paying someone else to live here," he said. "The equity is going to [us]."

EAH recipients bought 33 units at the 58-unit property, formerly called Broyhilton Apartments.

Gan's new digs are one bus ride away from the Arlington County Sheriff's Office, so he also saves money on gas and parking. Overall, Gan believes he got a good deal. "One of the biggest complaints you hear at work is how ridiculous housing prices are in this area," he said.

That's an understatement. New condo construction in the Courthouse area usually starts in the mid- to upper-$300s for a one-bedroom condo. New one-bedroom condos in Clarendon usually begin in the upper-$300s.