Qualifying for affordable units?

[c00624]

Does anyone know the rules about qualifying for affordable units? I know the income limit is $34,500 for a single person, but my question is when you have to qualify. Would you have to qualify when you put a deposit down, when you close, or both? As these times are likely to be a year or more apart in the new developments, this is an important question.

[barakat]

^ I qualified for an affordable unit about four years ago. I think what mattered was my salary when I applied for the unit, in addition to debt and other expenses. As far as I know, your income could quadruple after qualifying and it wouldn't affect your dibs on the unit. However in my case there were restrictions as far as resale since fed grants were used as a 'down payment' to make the unit 'affordable'. If I were to sell my unit within 5 years of purchase, I would be obligated to reply the grant facilitator a pro-rated amount of the grant I received. I don't understand this as they were not the source of the money, but it's what I was told. Also in my case I'm not allowed to rent the unit until the 5 years is up, but that may not apply to other developments. It has been an extrememely good deal for me and I expect to make a large profit if/when I sell it. If you can qualify for an affordable unit I say go for it.

[c00624]

You definitely got in at the right time. The "affordable" units were probably much more affordable back then. I have a hard time believing that I'm getting much of a subsidy on a 500 sq. foot unit for $160k. Thanks for the info. I had a salesperson tell me that I would have to qualify at the time of close also (which would be a year and a half away). I had a feeling that this person didn't know what they were talking about and think that must have been the case. Anyone else that I have talked to at different developments has said that you just have to qualify when you reserve the unit.