The City of Flagstaff is excited to announce that the first land trust home in its Izabel Homes development successfully closed escrow on January 24, 2011. The new homeowner, an Army veteran and long time Flagstaff resident, was thrilled to move into her new construction, highly energy-efficient home built through the City of Flagstaff Community Land Trust Program.
As the first land trust home to be financed through the Veterans Administration in Flagstaff, all those involved with the process, including the buyer, knew it was going to take some time to get financing approval. Thanks to Erin Moore at Prime Lending, Ron Swan at Swan & Associates and Cindy Wren at Pioneer Title Agency – University this VA Loan was accepted and the path has been paved for 15 more successful escrows. The City of Flagstaff Housing Section worked closely with buyer’s agent Sylvie Johnson from Keller Williams Arizona Living Realty and listing agent Kathy Gimenez from Flagstaff Neighborhood Realty to ensure the closing went as smoothly as possible.
The City of Flagstaff, BOTHANDS Inc., E3 Energy, Shapes and Forms Architecture, and Loven Contracting all worked together diligently through a new model of development to create affordable, extremely energy efficient, single family homes for households earning not more than 80% of the Area Median Income. A family of four earning less than $51,100 may qualify for the assistance.
The Izabel Homes development will have a total of 16 homes when the project is completed. Construction on the first three homes is complete with one of the three sold. There are two single-level 3 Bedroom/2 Bath floor plans and one two-story 4Bedroom/2Bath floor plan. Once these three units are under contract for sale the City will determine the timeline for construction of additional homes in the development.
Homes built through the Flagstaff Community Land Trust Program are intended to balance the benefit to the homeowner and the long-term benefit to the community. Future resale of Community Land Trust homes are determined by a formula ensuring that the owner can take part of the appreciation with them when they sell and that the remaining appreciation stays in the home making it affordable to the next buyer.
If you are thinking about purchasing your first home, BOTHANDS, Inc. is accepting applications to determine eligibility for Izabel Homes. You can contact BOTHANDS at 214-7456. If you have questions about the homes you can contact Kathy Gimenez at Flagstaff Neighborhood Realty 928-699-9392.
