"in a region with a median home price of $1.4 million and a county where the figure reaches $2.2 million, a home for the couple and their two kids in the community they serve was out of reach. For years, Quintero commuted an hour-plus across the Bay from Hayward, and though they later found a small rental in the San Mateo County town of Belmont, their pay wasn't enough for them to afford a home of their own."
"Even as I got raises and better-paying jobs, it's like I couldn't catch up to where prices were, said Quintero, who earns $144,000 not including benefits. Each year, the Quinteros entered a program sponsored by the county for its employees a lottery awarding 20 loans of up to $100,000 toward the purchase of a home in San Mateo County. In 2023, they won."
"We got used to these hour-long commutes, and now that we don't have to do that, it's such a privilege, Quintero said. We have so much more time to spend on other things. Employee housing stipends have long been a feature of high-paying jobs in the corporate world, but the middle-income workers educating children, repairing roads and working in hospitals often must look far from where they work to find a home they can afford to rent, let alone buy."
San Mateo County social worker Aldo Quintero and his wife earn respectable government salaries but could not afford local homes because median prices exceed their reach. Quintero commuted over an hour from Hayward until winning a county employee lottery that awards 20 loans up to $100,000 for home purchases. The Quinteros combined the loan, savings and family help to buy a $780,000 condo near work and school, eliminating long commutes. Local governments, universities and hospitals increasingly offer down-payment assistance and housing stipends to help middle-income educators, planners and health workers live in the communities they serve.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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