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Article: Affordable Apartment Living for Adults 55+
"For Age and income qualified adults 55+ years and better."

Imagine...

Waking up in your beautifully appointed apartment home and taking a leisure stroll around the impeccably landscaped grounds and natural pond. Or, enjoying a refreshing dip in a pristine swimming pool after an work-out in the fitness studio.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act put the U.S. taxpayer and a tiny state agency,  The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, in crucial new roles for financing affordable housing. It now has access to almost $600 million of federal grants to jump-start "shovel-ready" apartment communities for families of all ages, including affordable apartments communities for adults 55+.

Rents average about $600 a month and income restrictions do apply.

The grants replace a mainstay of affordable housing finance - federal tax credits that encouraged private investors, mostly large banks and corporations, to offset taxable income by investing in affordable housing. When the recession zapped their profits, those investors no longer needed the tax credits or had an incentive to finance affordable housing.

To understand the new grant program, it helps to understand the old tax credit program. Before the recession, real estate professionals called syndicators, would connect investors looking for tax credits with developers needing financing. In a typical deal, a local lender provided 20 or 30 percent of the money needed.  A group of investors supplied the remainder.

But the recession delivered a double whammy to developers of affordable housing: Local lenders became more cautious about making loans, and investors fled the market. In the new program, federal grants replace the private investors. Developers must stillfind a local lender to finance about 20 percent of the deal.

Benefits for Residents...

The benefits for the residents of these properties with this particular financing, are that the apartments are newly constructed or substantially renovated with rents usually lower than the market rate.