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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria's Office of Housing is currently marketing five affordable for-sale homes to income-eligible first-time buyers, including a four-unit lottery at a new Old Town North condominium building with an application deadline next month.
The city is accepting applications through 5 p.m. June 22 for four condos at The Residences at Tidelock, a new 65-unit building at 1111 N. Fairfax St. expected to open this month. The affordable units include one one-bedroom, one one-bedroom-plus-den and two two-bedroom condos, one of which is designed as an accessible unit. Qualified applicants will be entered into a lottery. The application form is available on the city's homebuyer-resources page.
Ryan Belmore
Separately, the city is marketing a resale-restricted condo at 3702 Valley Drive in the Parkfairfax community, listed at a reduced $345,000. The 760-square-foot, one-bedroom unit includes a bathroom, a patio and an in-unit washer and dryer, and the community offers pools, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds and an exercise room.
Both opportunities use a shared-equity model: buyers purchase at a below-market price and, in exchange, share in the home's appreciation when they resell, keeping the units affordable for future income-eligible buyers.
To qualify for either, buyers must be first-time homebuyers — defined as not having held an ownership interest in a home in the past three years — who live or work in the city, with a gross household income at or below 100% of the area median. For the Valley Drive unit, that cap is $116,300 for a one-person household, $132,900 for two, $149,500 for three and $166,100 for four.
Eligible buyers may receive a city shared-equity loan of up to $50,000 toward down payment and closing costs through the Flexible Homeownership Assistance Program, and the units qualify for a 1% mortgage interest-rate reduction through Virginia Housing's SPARC program. To use either form of assistance, buyers must complete a Virginia Housing homebuyer training class and an individual counseling session. The next class is scheduled for June 20 at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center.
These opportunities are limited and competitive. The city markets only a handful of affordable ownership units at a time, often through lotteries, in a market where median home prices run far higher. Several of the city's homeownership programs currently list no available properties.
For the Tidelock lottery or general program questions, the Office of Housing can be reached at 703-746-4990. Questions about the Valley Drive unit can be directed to the listing agent, Lisa McCaskill, at 703-615-6036, or to the Office of Housing at 703-746-3092. Details on all the city's homeownership programs are on the Office of Housing's website.
