Willow Central

General Information

Willow Central offers two new affordable units -one two bedroom duplex unit and one three bedroom bungalow. The units are located on Willow Street and Central Street, just outside West Acton Village.

Lottery Applicant Criteria:

• Must be a first time homebuyer defined has not having owned residential property for three years (exception for displaced homeowners). A displaced homemaker is defined as:

  1. A displaced homeowner: A displaced homeowner is an individual who is an adult, who has owned a home only with a spouse, who is legally separated from a spouse, and who does not currently own the home previously owned with a spouse.

  2. A household that owned a principal residence not permanently affixed to a permanent foundation in accordance with applicable regulations.

  3. A household that owned a property that was not in compliance with State, local or model building codes and which cannot be brought into compliance for less than the cost of constructing a permanent structure.

  4. An age-qualified household (in which at least one member is age 55 or over) which is selling a home in order to purchase a LIP unit.

• Must not exceed the following maximum allowable income for your household size.

• All applicants’ allowable assets shall not exceed $50,000. Retirement assets are counted. While employed only the amounts the applicant can withdraw are counted less the early withdrawal assessed penalties. Complete Income and Asset Guidelines will be provided if you have an opportunity to purchase, at the Public Information meeting, upon request or you can view online at www.mcohousingservices.com.

Mortgage Pre-Approval:
A mortgage pre-approval letter is required to participate in this project. The pre-approval letter must be based on your credit score and current financial situation and MUST be from a bank and received with your application before the application deadline. A pre-approval letter from a mortgage company or an online letter will NOT be accepted. A list of banks will be available at the Public Information Meeting and upon request.

Mortgage Guidelines:
There are specific mortgage guidelines that must be met. They are:

• The loan must have a fixed interest rate through the full term of the mortgage.
• The loan must have a current fair market interest rate. (No more the 2 percentage points above the current MassHousing Rate.)
• The buyer must provide a down payment of at least 3%, 1.5% of which must come from the buyer’s own funds.
• The loan can have no more than 2 points.
• The buyer may not pay more than 38% of their monthly income for housing costs.
• No third party mortgages allowed.

Local Preference Criteria:
You must meet at least one of the following to be eligible for Local Preference.

• Current Acton resident
• Employed by the Town of Acton, the Acton Public Schools, the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District or the Acton Water Department
• Parent, son, daughter or sibling of current Acton Resident
• Employee working in the Town of Acton

Proof of local residency will be verified if you have the opportunity to purchase.

Housing Preferences
In all cases, preference for the three bedroom unit will be given to households who require three bedrooms. Second preference will be given to households that require two bedrooms. Final preference will be given to households who require one bedroom.

Preference for two bedroom units will be given to households who require two bedrooms. Second preference will be given to households who require one bedroom.

Unit preferences are based on the following:

a. There is a least one occupant and no more than two occupants per bedroom.

b . A husband and wife, or those in a similar living arrangement, shall be required to share a bedroom. Other household members may share but shall not be required to share a bedroom.

c. A person described in (b) shall not be required to share a bedroom if a consequence of sharing would be a severe adverse impact on his or her mental or physical health and reliable medical documentation is provided substantiating the adverse impact.

Deed Rider
YES. Deed restrictions are used to protect the affordability of the units for future buyers. The deed restrictions encumber the property in perpetuity, with certain exceptions. If you choose to sell your unit, there is a limit on the resale price. The maximum resale price is determined using a Resale Price Multiplier, a figure calculated by taking the initial sales price and dividing it by the area median income. For example, the initial 2 bedroom affordable condominium unit price is $150,000 and the current area median income is $82,400, the Resale Price Multiplier would be $150,000/$82,400 = 1.82.

Upon resale, the Resale Price Multiplier is multiplied by the updated area median income number to determine the maximum resale price.

Minority Preference
A preliminary lottery will be held if the percentage of minority applicants in the Local Preference Pool is less than 20.7%, as determined by recent Census data in the Boston area. This lottery will be comprised of all minority applicants who did not qualify for the local pool. Applicants will be ranked in order of the drawing. The Local Pool will be adjusted by adding the required number of applicants, in rank order, to achieve the appropriate minority representation in the Local Pool.

Minority households are identified in accordance with the regulatory classifications established by HUD.