Our goal is to design a high-quality, economical, easy-to-build, energy efficient, flexible and adaptable home for the young professional workforce of Cape Cod.

Housing NOW Partnership is a collaboration of Jill Neubauer Architects, The Valle Group, Sustainable Energy Analytics, Bernice Wahler Landscapes, Carol McLeod Design and affordable housing developer Michael Galasso.

We have included a number of options for home buyers in our plans, which can reduce the initial purchase price and the on-going cost of energy to operate the home. In addition, an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) can be added to the home to generate rental income, which can be applied to the home buyer’s annual income and assist the home buyer in qualifying for a loan.

The Housing NOW homes can be designed to fit on lots as small as 5,000 square feet in the more urbanized neighborhoods of the Cape, and are designed to be affordable for households earning between 80 and 120 percent of the Barnstable County median income.
 

Additional Steps to Increase Affordability of Housing NOW Homes

Housing NOW homes have been design to be either “stick” built on-site or can easily be adapted for modular construction. The budget included with our submittal is based on a traditional on-site, stick-build method. Modular-built Housing NOW homes could reduce the time to deliver the homes to home buyers, reducing the cost of the home.

It would be our goal to have the Housing NOW building plans pre-approved by each town’s building department to reduce permitting and the construction time line.

There are now many home purchase loan programs that will give credit to the homebuyer for the income produced by an ADU which can be added to the home buyer’s annual household income helping each qualify for a home loan.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLB-Boston) offers an Equity Builder Program, which offers member banks grants to provide to home buyers for down payment and closing costs assistance. The program also provides funds to member banks at below market interest rates, lowering the interest cost to home buyers.

Modular building, expediting the permit process, energy efficient homes, income from ADUs, securing land by partnering with local or state governmental agencies or nonprofits, and reducing the cost of borrowing can collectively help reduce the cost of purchasing a Housing NOW home and provide more housing that is affordable to the young professionals and others working on Cape Cod. 

For more information on Housing NOW homes or our contest submittal, please contact Michael Galasso at michael@theresource.org.