Intel Helps Teachers Buy Homes
By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) and local school officials will introduce a mortgage-assistance program Monday to help teachers buy homes in the nation's most expensive housing market.
The pilot program in the Santa Clara Unified School District is the latest effort in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley region to try to attract and retain public school teachers, who are caught in a middle-income housing squeeze.
``We have an attractive package for recruiting new teachers, but once they have two or three years of experience and are ready to drop anchor in the community and buy a house, there is nothing they can afford,'' said district Superintendent Paul Perotti.
Santa Clara County's median home price was recently pegged at $550,000. A local teacher's average annual salary is $40,000.
Under the program, Santa Clara-based Intel, the world's largest microchip maker, has set up a $1.25 million housing fund for the school district.
The district will use the fund to pay $500 a month toward each eligible teacher's mortgage payment for up to five years and share in each home's appreciation or depreciation as an equity investor. At the end of five years, or sooner if the teacher leaves the district, the home owner repays the district, and the funds are reused.
Perotti said the district's contributions will mean a teacher with an annual household income of $74,000 could qualify for a $338,000 mortgage instead of a $267,000 mortgage.
The effort to financially assist teachers is among several under consideration in the region. In San Francisco, school officials and federal housing officials recently announced their hope to eventually offer 1,000 affordable housing units to the city's teachers, some as rentals and others as rent-to-own. |
