Housing Trust of Santa Clara County

About the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County

The mission of the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County is to make Silicon Valley a more affordable place to live. We make loans and grants to increase the supply of affordable housing, prevent homelessness and assist qualified individuals and families to buy their first home. We are nationally recognized for providing the resources and leadership needed to make housing more affordable for those who want to live in Santa Clara County. This is accomplished by leveraging voluntary contributions from local Silicon Valley companies with public funding to make a meaningful impact countywide. For more information about the Housing Trust, please visit http://www.housingtrustscc.org

Equity-Share Co-Investment (ESCO) Program

The ESCO Program will provide qualified first-time homebuyers with up to half the down payment required for a home purchase, enabling homebuyers to step onto the property ladder sooner and start building home equity years before they otherwise would be able to do so. Using the ESCO Program, homebuyers can purchase a home in a more affordable and sustainable way with a reduced upfront debt burden. There are no current interest payments due on the equity contributed by the ESCO Program. Instead, homebuyers will share a portion of their home’s appreciation with the Housing Trust at the time of sale, prepayment, or refinancing.

A homebuyer will provide a down payment equal to 5-15% of the home’s purchase price, and the Housing Trust will supplement this with an equivalent amount up to 10% of the home’s purchase price as a long-term investment (the “ESCO Principal Amount”). The Housing Trust will invest a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $75,000 in any Property.

For example, if a homebuyer has a $40,000 down payment to buy a $400,000 home (10% of the home’s purchase price), the Housing Trust will provide an additional $40,000 as an ESCO loan, to increase the total down payment to $80,000, or 20% of the home’s purchase price. The homebuyer will finance the remainder, getting an 80% loan-to-value (LTV) first mortgage.

An ESCO loan has a term of fifteen (15) years. There are no current interest payments due on the ESCO loan. Instead, homebuyers will share a portion of their home’s appreciation with the Housing Trust at the time of sale, prepayment or refinancing (the “ESCO Equity Share”).

Who is Eligible?

Applicants must be first-time home buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years. Applicants’ credit (FICO) scores must be 650 or greater. The homebuyer must demonstrate continuous employment for 24 months prior to application.

A homebuyer may purchase a single family home, townhouse, condominium, or any other dwelling suitable for housing one family, and the dwelling must be occupied as a primary residence. Vacation homes, investment properties, multiple family dwellings and life care facilities do not qualify. The residence must be located geographically within the Santa Clara County, California.

A homebuyer’s Total Household Annual Gross Income cannot be more than 140% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for the Santa Clara County, based on household size. Please see the chart below:

* Income limits effective September 1, 2009 and subject to change

Which lenders can I use?

For a list of first mortgage lenders that have been approved for the ESCO Program, please click here.

I would like to learn more!

For more information about the ESCO Program, please download the ESCO Program Guide.  The ESCO Program Guide contains program details, including program qualifications, homebuyer responsibilities, and ESCO repayment requirements.  For an overview of the ESCO Program, please download the ESCO Program Summary (English), the ESCO Program Summary (Spanish), or the ESCO Program Brochure.  In addition, you can use the ESCO Program Calculator to calculate the ESCO loan that you are eligible for and the maximum home purchase price you can afford using the ESCO Program.

I would like to apply for the ESCO Program!

Please go to the ESCO Program Application Download Page where you will be able to download an electronic version of the ESCO Application after answering a short set of questions about yourself.  For details on the complete ESCO Application Process, please go to the ESCO Program Application Process Page.