The Davis family, in Yarmouth
Even before Danielle and Jarrek Davis learned they had been selected as one of three lottery winners for the Yarmouth Buydown Program, they had already started looking at homes to purchase.
“We were really hopeful,” explained Danielle. “We looked at a few places for what our kids need – a nice neighborhood with a nice backyard and enough space for our family; something that was move-in ready as opposed to needing a lot of work.”
The Davises, who have three children, had been renting a home in Yarmouth the past three years. At the end of May, Cape Community Real Estate Director Gael Kelleher notified the couple that their lottery number had been pulled. Funded by the Town of Yarmouth, the program provided a total of three grants – two up to $150,000 and one up to $100,000 – to buy down the price of a market rate home to convert into an affordable, deed-restricted property.
Jarrek had learned of the buydown program from his employer, SencorpWhite. The couple were one of eight applicants.
“These programs are really for our workforce,” said Kelleher. “They all have good incomes, make between $60,000 and $80,000 a year, but still can’t afford to live here.”
Danielle said “programs like these are really helpful in my opinion. We all know what it is like living on the Cape with the expenses. Especially when you have children, it can be really tough finding somewhere to live.”
The beauty of the buydown program, Kelleher said, is that it takes existing housing inventory and converts them into affordable units. In 2017, Housing Assistance oversaw a similar program for Yarmouth which allowed four first-time homebuyers to realize their dream of homeownership in the Mid-Cape community.
“It creates a much better quality of affordable inventory for the town and they are mixed into every neighborhood,” said Kelleher. “There is no new construction, no permits, and is a very, very quick way to create workforce housing and a place for people to live and stay there for a long time and build roots in our community.”
That is exactly what the Davises plan on doing with their new home which they purchased at the end of July and moved into in mid-August. “As soon as we walked in, we knew we definitely wanted this home,” Danielle said. “I love it. I love the location. This will be somewhat of a forever home for us. I see us living here for a very long time.”
