Relief is on the way for potential home owners in Tacoma, but there’s a catch.
A new development is selling 50-70 new homes with a top price of $265,000. But to be an owner in The Preserve, buyers cannot make more than $75,000 a year, and must work within 15 miles of the South Tacoma neighborhood.
“We need to have housing the working families of Tacoma can afford,” said Green Harbor Communities co-founder Bill Rehe.
Rehe, a biologist, said he and another family decided they could invest in the project as a way to help make homes more affordable to police officers, firefighters, teachers and nurses.
According to Zillow.com, the median home price in Tacoma is $297,000.
“These are the same folks having trouble getting into a house now because of the current housing climate,” said Rehe, who noted he would make more money in another kind of real estate project.
“We’re not trying to maximize our investment,” said Reye. “That’s not why we’re doing this.”
Since the developers broke ground on the project last weekend, they’ve had more than 60 potential owners apply through the company’s website.