February 8, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT:	Elissa Gertler, PDC (503) 823-3231

PDC Introduces "Project JumpStart" to Help Bring
Homeownership Within Reach

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The Portland Development Commission (PDC), as the city’s housing agency, has launched a new program aimed at helping first-time homebuyers get into a new home. The program is in response to an escalating housing market and feedback from prospective buyers that high mortgage payments are often a deterrent to homeownership.

PDC’s Neighborhood Housing Program has launched JumpStart, a tool to help first-time homebuyers increase their buying power by temporarily lowering the payment on a first mortgage. JumpStart is a second mortgage loan used in conjunction with a PDC purchase and renovation loan. JumpStart enables a homeowner to move ahead with a home purchase and renovation rather than delay because payments are just a little beyond reach.

JumpStart (www.pdc.us/jumpstart) allows a borrower to increase their buying power and lower payments during the first five years of the loan. PDC places the proceeds from the JumpStart loan in a secured account. Each month, money is withdrawn from this account and added to the buyer’s temporarily-reduced mortgage payment to make the full payment on the loan. Over the next four years, the mortgage payment gradually increases. At the beginning of the fifth year, the JumpStart assistance ends, and the buyer begins making the full payment required.

JumpStart is intended for borrowers who want to purchase and renovate a home and can demonstrate the potential to handle increased monthly payments. Borrowers must meet an income requirement, and purchases are restricted to the Lents Town Center and Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Areas. JumpStart allows a borrower to qualify for a larger mortgage amount, while having their monthly payment lowered and direct the extra cash towards needed improvements to the property.

PDC’s Neighborhood Housing Program has played a significant role in improving the overall livability of Portland’s neighborhoods by provided loans for purchase and renovation, refinance and renovation, and low-interest home repair loans to low- and moderate-income home owners in targeted neighborhoods. For more information on JumpStart or any of the purchase and renovation loans offered by PDC, call (503) 823-3400 to speak to a loan specialist or contact staff by e-mail for an application packet.

PDC was created by Portland voters in 1958 to serve as the city’s urban renewal agency as laid out in Chapter 15 of the City’s Charter. PDC provides comprehensive housing, development and economic development programs within the Portland region.

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