• To begin your search for the perfect home or to sell your home in the Issaquah Highlands area, start by calling Rebecca Kuno at (206) 686-1661.
• 
  

• Recent Posts

  • Critter Free Crawl Spaces
  • Counter This! What Not to Do as a Seller in Today’s Market
  • Beautiful Bothell Home For Sale - Status = Contingent. What Does That Mean to Other Buyers and Agents?
  • Income Qualifications for Affordable Housing in Issaquah
  • Issaquah Highlands Restaurant Review: World Pies

• Recent Comments

  • John on Welcome to Issaquah Highlands 9 Bar Espresso! and soon… World Pies.
  • alicia on Issaquah Highlands Has Affordable Housing
  • Keirston on Having Fun at the YMCA!
  • Matt Snook on Issaquah Highlands Restaurant Review: World Pies
  • Cheryl Miller on Issaquah Highlands Restaurant Review: World Pies

• Archives

  Select Month May 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007

Alice, a reader from Florida, recently asked a question about how income is calculated for this low income housing in Issaquah.

I would like to move to Issaquah to be close to my daughter and her family. Can you please tell me how the income is calculated for this low income housing? My main income is from Social Security, have some other income and once my home sells here in Florida will have some cash.

Any help you can give me with this matter will be much appreciated.

For all interested in knowing what HUD uses to base income off of you can refer to the official document titled "TITLE 24–HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, PART 5_GENERAL HUD PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS; WAIVERS" or 24CFR5.609 for short. Or you can just read the summary below.

To answer your question Alice, HUD uses all amounts and sources of income, INCLUDING SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS, whether they be monetary or goods and services. There are however a few, okay quite a few, exceptions which I have listed at the bottom of this post. So yes, your Social Security income and your "other income" (assuming it does not come from one of the exceptions below, would count against you.

To determine what housing you qualify for, you would need to add up all your income, count the number of members of your household and then refer to the chart below.

For example, if your household income totaled $50,000 and you had 4 persons in your household, you would qualify for a affordable home at the 80% of median income or greater level. That would basically allow you to purchase, or rent any affordable housing units in the Issaquah Highlands.

I have helped several clients find and purchase affordable homes and most recently am in the process of helping one purchase in the Issaquah Highlands. If you would like any help with finding and purchasing affordable housing, or would just like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

These exceptions are subject to change but currently include the following sources:

• Amounts paid by a State agency to a family with a member who has a developmental disability and is living at home to offset the cost of services and equipment needed to keep the developmentally disabled  family member at home.
• The value of food stamps provided to an eligible household under the Food Stamp Act of 1977.
• Incremental earnings and benefits from participation in qualifying state and local employment training programs.
• The amount by which the family’s welfare benefits were reduced, if the family was not an assisted resident at the time of sanction.
• Non-recurrent, short-term benefits that: * Are designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need
  • Are not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and
  • Will not extend beyond four months.
• Work subsidies (i.e., payments to employers or third parties to help cover the costs of employee wages, benefits, supervision, and training).
• Supportive services such as child care and transportation provided to families who are employed.
• Refundable earned income tax credits.
• Individual Development Accounts.
• Services such as counseling, case management, peer support, child care information and referral, transitional services, job retention, job advancement, and other employment-related services that do not provide basic income support.
• Transportation benefits provided under a Job Access or Reverse Commute project, pursuant to section 404(k) of the Social Security Act, to an individual who is not otherwise receiving assistance.
• Lump-sum benefits payable as a death benefit.
• Deferred periodic amounts from SSI benefits that the family member received in a lump sum amount or in prospective monthly amounts.
• Amounts received by a person with a disability that are disregarded for a limited time for purposes of SSI eligibility and benefits because they are set aside for use under a Plan to Attain Self-Sufficiency (PASS).
• Deferred periodic amounts from Social Security benefits that the family member received in a lump sum amount or in prospective monthly amounts.
• Child care arranged or provided under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990.
• Amounts received by the family that are specifically for, or in reimbursement of, the cost of medical expenses for any family member.
• Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
• Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United States that is held in trust for certain Indian tribes.
• Income derived from the disposition of funds of the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians.
• The first $2,000 of per capita shares from judgement funds awarded by Indian Claims Commission or the Court of Claims or from funds held in trust for an Indian Tribe by the Secretary of Interior.
• Payments received under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.
• Payments received by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederate Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation.
• The first $2,000 of income received by individual Indians derived from interests or trust or restricted land.
• Payments received for the care of foster children or foster adults (usually persons with disabilities, unrelated to the tenant family, who are unable to live alone).
• Lump-sum additions to family assets, such as inheritances, insurance payments (including payments under health and accident insurance and worker’s compensation), capital gains and settlement for personal or property losses.
• Full amount of student financial assistance paid directly to the student or to the educational institution.
• Temporary, nonrecurring or sporadic income (including gifts).
• Reparation payments paid by a foreign government pursuant to claims filed under the laws of that government by persons who were persecuted during the Nazi era.
• Adoption assistance payments in excess of $480 per adopted child.
• Refunds or rebates under state or local law for property taxes paid on dwelling unit. 
• Amounts specifically excluded by any other Federal statute from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility or benefits under a category of assistance programs that includes assistance under any program to which the exclusions set forth in 24 CFR 5.609(c) apply.
• Payments or allowances under DHHS’ low-income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP).
• Federal scholarships funded under Title IV of The Higher Education Act of 1965, including awards under the Federal work study program or under the Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance program.
• Payments received from programs funded under Title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965.
• Payments received on or after January 1, 1989 from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any fund established pursuant to the settlement in the Agent Orange product liability litigation.
• Earned Income Tax Credit refund tax payments.
• Any allowance paid under provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1805 to a child suffering from spina bidifa who is a child of a Vietnam Veteran.
• Any amount of crime victim compensation that the applicant (under the Victims Crime Act) receives through crime victim assistance (or payment or reimbursement of the cost of such assistance) as determined under the Victims Crime Act because of the commission of a crime against the applicant.

For more information you can visit the King County Housing and Community Development Program website.

Swedish Hospital recently executed its option to purchase 18 acres of land in Issaquah Highlands, further cementing their commitment and determination to bring better hospital services to the growing population of King County’s Eastside communities. The land that plan to build on is located at the South West of edge of the Issaquah Highlands.

While this is great news for the community, they are not out of the woods yet. Swedish has cleared all the state Department of Health’s red tape, so they have started the planning process. They still need to get a favorable ruling from the state Department of Health administrative judge in the joint appeal filed by Overlake, Evergreen, Snoqualmie Valley and Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center. Their argument is that the plans of Swedish concentrate too many beds in one location. I find that odd seeing that some of those participating in the appeal tried to be the hospital developer of choice in the first go-round. In fact, Overlake and Swedish both submitted applications that were rejected way back in 2004. Overlake gave up while Swedish filed for appeal after appeal until they finally were granted permission to build.

Maybe Overlake shouldn’t have given up…

Regardless on what happens with the current appeal by the competition, Swedish owns the land and will build some sort of medical facility; with or without beds.
To read the official press release, click here.

In addition to the current affordable housing, another 60 units, a combination of rentals and single family homes, will soon be under construction. Division 95, the last chunk of land previously not committed to any one in particular to build affordable housing has finally found at least one developer.

For those of you not familiar with Division 95, it is North of Park Drive, on the West side of 25th Ave NE, and right at the intersection of 25th Avenue NE and Logan Street.

The site plan calls for 50 rental units (location indicated by the blue shading in the picture) and 10 single family homes. The 10 single family homes will be directly adjacent to 25th (as indicated by the red shading in the picture). These homes will be built by Habitat for Humanity and are scheduled to break ground sometime this year. If you would like to help out in this project, please check out the volunteer page at the East King County Habitat Website.

Port Blakely is still trying to find a non-profit builder for the 50 rental units. They have proposals out to several different builders currently. If no builder is found in the next 12 months, PortBlakely will most likely step in and take the ball on this.

And for all of you who might be concerned about “Affordable Housing” bringing down property values or not fitting in the community, here is some food for thought. “Affordable Housing” already makes up about 20% of Issaquah Highlands real estate. It must pass the same Architectural Review Standards that all the other homes do to ensure there is a level of consistent quality. In addition, to qualify for affordable housing you must meet certain income requirements. Depending on the unit you are trying to acquire, a single person can make up to 80% of the median income to qualify for the most affordable programs, all the way up to 120% of the median income before they no longer meet the requirements. The median income in 2007 for a single person was $54,500.

Many buyers have been pondering the decision of whether or not to buy a home over the past few months. It’s no wonder - it has been a scary market out there. With so much news focused on the turmoil caused by the increase in mortgage defaults, foreclosures and mortgage houses closing their doors, it seems like it is all doom and gloom. The reality though, is that it is not doom and gloom at all. In my opinion, if buyers continue to sit on the fence, they may miss out on some opportunities that currently exist in the market.

Interest rates are still historically low. Going back the last 30 years, a 30 year fixed still is averaging around 9.4% or about 3.4% higher than where we are sitting at today. What has changed is the amount of documentation needed to get those loans. With the right loan officer you can be guided through the increased documentation requirements.

Along with the historically low rates, you can still get FHA assistance with down payments. While, most down payment assistance programs were shut down on October 31, 2007, non-profit group, Nehemiah, received a six month extension.

If low interest rates and down payment assistance programs aren’t opportunity enough, how does being in a very strong position at the negotiating table sound?While most sellers aren’t considering ridiculously low offers, they are considering more concessions than they have in the past. Sellers are making these concessions because there is currently a surplus of inventory available for buyers to choose from. In fact some buyers are so confident in their negotiating position, that they made five offers at the same time just to see which offer “stuck”. In that situation, it was the seller that was willing to give the most that “won”. That said, many buyers are in a good position to save thousands of dollars on the purchase price or their closing costs (by having the seller pay them). This can be very helpful as it can reduce your mortgage and/or conserves cash, reserving extra monies for important things like furnishing a new home.

So if you have been thinking about taking the plunge and want to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities currently available to buyers, my suggestion is to stop sitting on the fence and start exploring some of the opportunities that exist.

One of the aspects of living in Issaquah Highlands I love is the Urban Village concept. The community is geared toward pedestrians and is within walking distance to alternative transportation. With a network of sidewalks and trails woven throughout the neighborhood, it is easy to walk or bike from place-to-place. As mentioned in a previous post, the streets are definitely scaled for walking and biking rather than cars and trucks. And last but not least, many of the homes throughout the community trade their front load garages for front porches which encourages social interaction with neighbors and the passersby.

That’s where this great new tool comes in to play. WalkScore is a tool that helps helps people find “walkable” places to live. The tool has location data on stores, schools, restaurants, parks,ect. which it uses to calculate the “walkability ” of an address. Why is this important? Well, for one thing, walking is just good for you and the environment. It also helps build stronger relationships within the community you live by getting you outside and physically interacting with the real world. Plus it’s just convenient; at least will be when we get more retail in the Issaquah Highlands.

So what is the WalkScore of Issaquah Highlands? Great question. And to be honest, the answer was quite disappointing. WalkScore give Issaquah Highlands a WalkScore of 25 out of 100 (Not Walkable). This will change over time as our retail are gets built out, but at least for now, downtown Issaquah is right down the hill and it has a WalkScore of 80 (Very Walkable).

What’s the WalkScore from your house? Check it out!

Are you tired of the run of the mill Mexican fare? If so, check out this hidden hole in the wall on Gilman Blvd in Issaquah. Located discretely tucked away behind Denny’s, La Taqueria Venadita is a wonderful little place where the service is friendly and the food is fantastic. I tried their tostada de camerones and thought they were wonderful. Their refried beans are the best I have tasted this side of Baja. Another tasty dish is the camarones el diablo which consists of grilled shrimp sauteed in a spicy tomato and chile sauce with mushrooms and onions. My husband is a fan of their soft chicken tacos and gets at least two every time. And our daughter, well she loves what ever she can pry out of our hands. Tacos are around $1.25 each and the tostadas are about $2.50 to $3.00. Both very reasonable for the quality and portions.

There is also a market and bakery associated with Taqueria La Venadita a few doors down that I have yet to check out, but the last time we were at the restaurant I noticed a delivery truck unloading and the baked goods looked mouth-watering. I will let you know what I think once I have a chance to stop in and check out the market for myself.

As for the taqueria, you can’t beat the cheap prices and the quality authentic Mexican food.

Reviews

Map

If you are looking for a nice place to take your family for dinner in downtown Issaquah and are craving some tasty Chinese food, try Shanghai Garden on Front Street.

Shanghai Garden has become a family favorite not only for my daughter, husband and myself, but for our extended family as well. I wouldn’t say we are regulars there but we do frequent the restaurant quite often. In fact we just went there Saturday night.

A few standard dishes that are a must have on our list are the Hand Shaven Noodles. We like to get them with beef, but you can choose other options as well such as chicken, pork, shrimp or tofu. We are also particularly fond of the Steamed Dumplings, even if they do take about 20 minutes. You can’t beat how fresh they are! My personal favorite is the Crispy Shrimp In Sweet Chili Sauce. Other tasty dishes include:

• Vegetable Fried Rice
• Bean Curd Sheet Roll
• Sauteed Sugar Pea Vine
• Sizzling Triple Delight
• Mu Shu Pork

Service is friendly and fast. My only recommendation is to not go there on Mondays (they are closed) or just before or after the Village Theater performances as they tend to be very busy causing the service to be slower.

So next time you are looking for a reasonably priced (entrees range from $8 - $20) and tasty meal check out Shanghai Garden.

Reviews

Map

If last week was any indication, winter is not waiting to arrive. Last years storms were harsh and headache inducing for many so don’t find yourself ill-prepared this year. Make sure you keep plenty of bottled water and canned goods on hand. Hearty soups and protein rich snack bars will help give you the energy you need get through any power outages we might have. If you are lucky enough to have a gas fireplace, make sure the battery operated igniter has an operable battery in it (this allows you to manually turn on the fireplace instead of flipping the light switch). For that matter be sure to keep plenty of batteries on hand for your flashlights as well. Have a plan and keep your flashlights, batteries, candles and matches (or lighter) all in one place. If you have a gas stove, the matches or lighter will also allow you to have a working stove. Doing this - you can weather the storm in style, warmth and comfort.

P.S. - If everything in your home is electric, I suggest you hit up priceline.com to get a great last minute deal on hotels in downtown Seattle.

A while back, I wrote about a little rumor I heard about the Grand Ridge area of Issaquah Highlands becoming a gated community.

Well it is official; at least part of it.

Grand Ridge Drive is going to become a private community. While I am not crazy about a “private community” in our neighborhood, I am even more upset about the loss of access to Grand Ridge Trail. Last month’s issue of Issaquah Highlands Connections newspaper had an article talking about this private community and this fantastic trail. The article points out that you can access the trail from Central Park or further down by High Point trail head; and soon to be Duthie Hill park.

That is great and all, but it overlooks the fact that one of the easiest access points for the trail is from Grand View Drive. The article specifically points out that Grand Ridge Drive is private and that while the trail crosses Grand Ridge, it is not to be accessed from that point. To me, this is unfair in that this particular access point is the most convenient access point for Issaquah Highland residents the trail at a point that has little slope in either direction for those that can’t take the strain of steep inclines. As I mentioned in the previous article, when you want to take a two year old hiking - ease of access is a big deal. We have a lot of tiny trekkers in our wonderful community and I feel strongly that they should be able to enjoy this trail too.

What do you think??? Voice your opinion here - maybe together we can make a change.

Did you know that Salmon Days is just around the corner?

October 6th and 7th represents its 38th anniversary of the festival founded back in 1970. There is a little something for everyone at Salmon Days from a community parade to wonderful arts and crafts to face painting to fantastic food. And don’t forget the whole reason for the event - watching the salmon at the salmon hatchery. My family went last year and we had a wonderful time - even my one year old had fun. This year at almost two I think she will enjoy herself even more. If you would like more information about the event, check out www.salmondays.org.

See you there!

Next Page →

Subscribe

Frequent Contributors

Rebecca Kuno
Realtor & ASP
(206) 686-1661
Post Archive | RSS Feed

Barb Paetzold
Mortgage Expert
(425) 820-0601
Post Archive | RSS Feed

• Links

  • Issaquah Highlands Community Forum
  • My Business Website
  • My LinkedIn Profile
  • Property Search

• Categories

  Select Category Blog Blogging Buyers Events Household Tips Issaquah Issaquah Highlands Lending Misc Mortgage Update Other Development Parks Real Estate Restaurants Retail Development Sammamish Sellers Trails Weather