AMHERST — Area residents looking to transition from renting to owning have a new window of opportunity this week. Starting Thursday, Valley Community Development will host the first of two information sessions for a lottery that will award 30 families the chance to purchase brand-new, income-restricted units in 15 duplexes in North Amherst.
Valley Community Development’s Amherst Community Homes, at 195 Montague Road, which got underway last spring on a site bordered by Pulpit Hill Road and Ball Lane, is continuing to make progress, with occupancy expected later this year.
Jessica Allan, Valley’s real estate development director, wrote in an email that construction is about halfway complete, with all of the homes scheduled to be built by June and site work complete by July.
Buyers who are selected through the lottery and decide to move forward with the sale will go through an income certification process prior to closing. Home sales should begin in July and be completed by March 2027, Allan said.
The first information session is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the community room at the North Amherst Library, 8 Montague Road, with a second to be held at the same location on Saturday, Feb. 7 at noon. Both hour-long sessions will be held in person, with Zoom options also available.
Applications will be accepted through Feb. 24.
Ten of the homes will be sold to people making at or below 80% of the area median income, ranging from $67,000 to $111,000 depending on the household size, while the other 20 will be sold to people making at or below 100% of the area median income, ranging from $83,300 to $138,050 depending on the household size.
Applications can also be picked up in-person on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Valley CDC’s office at 256 Pleasant St. in Northampton. Applications will also be available at the information sessions, starting at 5 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. on Feb. 7.
To request an online application or to have one sent by email or mail, send email to
amhersthomes@dvmconsult.com or call 617-209-9262.
Allan said pre-marketing of the homes has taken place over the past year, to get both interest in the homes and encourage homebuyers to work with Valley’s financial literacy team for one-on-one counseling so they can be mortgage ready.
“We do have several households that are queued up and ready for the lottery to open,” Allan said, adding that some local banks are also hearing from interested homebuyers looking for mortgage pre-qualification letters for the lottery.
Allan noted that the hope is to have at least 100 eligible households in the lottery, though Valley is still seeking more 100% area median income households.
The $20.5 million development is being constructed by Keiter Corp. of Florence.
A major source of funding is MassHousing’s CommonWealth Builder program, which aims to make single-family homes and condominiums affordable for communities of color. The CommonWealth Builder program provides a subsidy for first-time homebuyers, looking to increase homeownership for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities and enhance generational wealth.
The town also provided financial support to make the development a reality.