Skygate development underway in Sisters

The first three of seven affordable homes are under construction in Skygate, located in northeast Sisters at the corner of Jantzen Lane and Heising Drive. The first three should be completed and ready for occupancy by September of this year and the other four in 2017.

The homes, all of which will be three-bedroom, two- bath structures, will have a sales price of $180,000. Skygate is a ground-lease development, meaning the home-owner purchases the house through bank financing and leases the land for $85 a month from Impact Housing, LLC of Redmond.

What makes these new houses available for purchase at a below-market price is removing the cost of the land, one of the major factors in the rising home prices all over Central Oregon. Local developer Shane Lundgren sold the property for Skygate's affordable homes to NeighborImpact to meet his City requirement for seven affordable homes in his planned Sun Ranch residential development. Income and program restrictions apply.

To qualify for the ground- lease program, the applicant must be a first-time homebuyer or not have owned a home in the past three years, with a household income below 80 percent of the area median income. That would be $47,750 a year for a family of four in Sisters.

The buyer(s) must also be willing to partner with Impact Housing, LLC and complete homeowner educational requirements. They must also have the ability to qualify for a mortgage loan and agree to the terms of the ground-lease agreement.

Applications will go through scoring criteria and the highest scoring eligible applicants will be offered the opportunity to enter into a purchase and sale agreement. Besides the above-mentioned qualifications scoring will be on: credit score; debt ratio; occupancy standards; and current residency or employment in Sisters Country.

Applications may be obtained at http://www.housing-works.org and will be accepted until 5 p.m., Friday, July 1, 2016 at the Impact Housing office located at HousingWorks in Redmond.

Applications may be found at www.housing-works.org.