Below Market Rate Housing Program

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

Address:
City of East Palo Alto Below-Market-Rate (BMR) Housing Program 
2369 University Ave, East Palo Alto, CA 94303

BELOW MARKET RATE HOUSING PROGRAM

The City’s Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing 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

Address:
City of East Palo Alto Below-Market-Rate (BMR) Housing Program 
2369 University Ave, East Palo Alto, CA 94303

Website:

www.epacando.org/bmr-home-ownership

RECENT BMR LOTTERIES

1765 E. Bayshore Rd. #XXX East Palo Alto

January 7, 2022, Lottery Winner!

Elena Chavez, Congratulations! 

Welcome to the OBMR program.

We are delighted to welcome Elena Chavez to the City of East Palo Alto Ownership BMR program. Ms. Chavez was the first-place lottery winner on December 7, 2022. We 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 is 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.