Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing Program

Below Market Rate homes is a housing program put on by the Mayor’s Office of Housing that allows middle income families the opportunity of home ownership. BMR units are mostly condominium units in newly developed buildings offered through out San Francisco at affordable prices that allows middle income families to obtain the “American Dream.”

The way a BMR home for sale works is; you must apply through the Mayor’s Office of Housing because there are income restrictions and you must be a first time home buyer (in some cases you could have owned a home before but not in the last 3 years).

All applicants must complete a first time home buyers course and they must be pre-approved by a specific lender that deals with BMR’s. Once they have been qualified they can then submit an application to purchase a BMR unit. They are then entered into a lottery with all other applicants where they will draw the winning person along with a second and third choice incase someone drops out. (In some cases you might be the only one that submitted an application for the BMR unit so you would automatically get it)

Prospective buyers don’t actually submit an offer with a price they want to purchase at, the winner of the lottery just get’s the property at whatever the listed price is.There will also be restrictions by the city when you re-sell the property. Price increase is not guaranteed but it usually goes up over the long run according to local incomes.

If you are interested in a BMR I would start getting qualified now. Here is a list of current BMR listings. Contact The San Francisco Real Estate Guide, Jon Gilkeson for more information

BMR units on the market:

BMR Home – 199 Montgomery Street

BMR Home – 1301 Indiana Street

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