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Since 2011, kindergarten teacher Kristen Leep has been on Menlo Park’s waiting list for those wanting to buy a below-market-rate (BMR) home.
She has gotten close on a couple of purchases through the city’s BMR Housing Program but remains a longtime rental tenant. For teachers and others like her with low-to-moderate income levels, finding and buying a house in the high-priced Peninsula and larger Bay Area is too difficult and challenging.
“I’m able to live here and have a prayer of saving for retirement because I live in a below-market-rate apartment,” she said in an interview with The Almanac. “So that’s great for now, but it’s not permanent. Of course, I’d much rather purchase. … I am keeping hope.”
Her hopes may have gotten a boost when the City Council approved revisions to Menlo Park’s BMR housing policy regarding for-sale units during its Tuesday, Dec. 5, meeting. The updated policy seeks to clarify procedures while strengthening support and opportunities for those who qualify to buy a BMR home.
The amended BMR guidelines come as housing affordability statewide has dipped. According to a recent report from the California Association of Realtors, fewer than one in five households could afford to purchase a $843,600 median-priced, single-family residence in the third quarter of this year. This is down from the 18% for the same period in 2022.
San Mateo County came in at 17% for this year’s third quarter — down from the 19% for the same frame in 2022, according to the association. The county continued to require the highest minimum qualifying income ($516,000) to buy a median-priced house. It was the only county in the state that required a minimum qualifying income of more than $500,000.
The council’s approval without discussion followed the Housing Commission’s recommendation Nov. 27.
“The city has in the past some difficulties with some potential sellers in that the current guidelines for new sales were not that clear,” Menlo Park Housing Manager Tim Wong said during the commission’s meeting last month. “There were steps, but they weren’t as clear or detailed as staff would like. So these are very focused revisions that pertain specifically to new sales or condo conversions that developers convert from apartment rentals to condominiums for sale.”
The policy refinements include requiring a BMR administrator to help in the sales process.
The ins and outs of purchasing a house are “already complex enough, especially as a first-time homebuyer,” Wong said. “So we hired a BMR administrator, who has experience dealing with first-time homebuyers, and also the BMR administrator is familiar with the city’s BMR process. (Not having an administrator) could lead to, let’s just say, inefficiencies in the sale.”
Leep could have used a BMR administrator in her case, she said. Recently, she signed a purchase agreement for a BMR condominium on Florence Lane, but the seller changed the terms and eventually sought to terminate negotiations.
‘I’m able to live here and have a prayer of saving for retirement because I live in a below-market-rate apartment. So that’s great for now, but it’s not permanent. Of course, I’d much rather purchase. … I am keeping hope.’
Kristen Leep, Menlo Park teacher
Having a BMR administrator would have been beneficial to support her would-be purchase, she said.
The revamped policy also calls for the list in which Leep has been on for years to be regularly updated.
The list has not been updated for a few years, a city staff report said. Moving forward, staff plans to reach out to households on the list on an annual basis to check if they remain interested in buying a BMR residence.
Housing Commission Chairperson Chelsea Onap wanted the policy to make sure developers provide BMR units comparable to market-rate ones.
Onap recounted her experience 20 years ago buying an affordable unit that she thought would be on par with the market-rate homes a developer was selling, but it was not.
“So who protects the BMR buyers because (in Onap’s case) we were told one thing and we got something else?” she asked last month.
Wong noted that the retooled policy does cover her concern, requiring that a BMR unit be comparable in size, design and other elements to market-rate homes in a given development.
The BMR Housing Program aims to increase Menlo Park’s housing supply for households that earn extremely-low, very-low, low and moderate incomes compared to the median income in San Mateo County.
Mayor Jen Wolosin told The Almanac that the policy update speaks to the city’s overall efforts in fostering affordable housing.
“Obviously, we want to maintain all of the affordable-housing stock that we can and make sure it stays affordable,” the mayor said.
