Below Market Rate Housing Program
BELOW MARKET RATE AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAM
The City’s Below Market Rate (BMR) Affordable Homeownership Program currently provides below market rate ownership units for low-income households in the City of East Palo Alto. Currently, there are 53 BMR ownership units in the City’s portfolio. Any time a BMR unit is resold, the BMR Administrator opens a lottery; people who live and work in East Palo Alto have additional chances of winning the lottery through the City’s local preference policy.
For inquiries related to the City's Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing Program, please contact the BMR Administrator, EPACANDO:
Phone: 650-473-9838 x 3
Email: bmr@epacando.org
Website: www.epacando.org/bmr-home-ownership
Address:
City of East Palo Alto Below-Market-Rate (BMR) Housing Program
2369 University Ave, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
RECENT BMR LOTTERIES
December 2025 - The City of East Palo Alto’s Below Market Rate (BMR) Affordable Homeownership Program has a new homeowner at 1765 E. Bayshore Rd, 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 950 sf. On behalf of the City, the team of EPACANDO and Bay Area Affordable Homeownership Alliance (BAAHA) recruited 29 applicants, yielding twelve eligible lottery participants after screening for household size, income and credit.
Of these twelve households, nine also qualified for a local preference. This gave them priority consideration. The City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance grants a priority to households who live in, or work in, or were displaced from the city.
A virtual lottery was conducted among the twelve eligible households. Then multiple high-ranking households entered the detailed loan and program qualification process at the same time to assure a timely placement. As it turned out, the Contreras family, who ranked 1st in the lottery and also held a local preference, were fully qualified and poised to purchase at the $252,200 resale price.
The new buyers had lived with family here in East Palo Alto, which enabled them to save up the cash they would need for closing costs and down payment. On June 1, 2026, the Contreras household got the keys to the 1-bedroom, 1.5 bath condominium at Cummings Park in the Gateway 101 shopping center. Congratulations! Contreras Family, welcome home! Signup to be notified of the next affordable inclusionary homeownership opportunity or Email bmr@epacando.org with your contact information to added to the notification list.
December 2022 - Elena Chavez was the 1st place lottery winner for a unit at 1765 E. Bayshore Rd. The lottery received 42 lottery applications, 26 of which were eligible based on household size, income, savings, and credit rating. In the previous lottery, held in 2020 for the BMR unit sold at University Avenue, where the 4th ranking winner became the homeowner, Ms. Chavez ranked 13th . Understanding what was needed to be prepared for the next lottery, Ms. Chavez was ready. Because she lives in East Palo Alto and is employed by employers based in East Palo Alto as well, her chances in both lotteries were increased by the City’s local preference rules. This particular BMR resale story was a double-success, for the buyer and seller. The sellers purchased the BMR in 2012, lived in the home for ten years, then were able to buy a market-rate home, allowing the City to offer the benefit of owning a Below-Market-Rate home to another East Palo Alto household.
