Newark Opens the Door: Sarah Shimmin on the City's First Down Payment Loan

Newark has never had a down payment program of its own. It has one now, and our October 22 room was among the first to hear the details. "Get ahead of everyone else," Susan Munkner told us as she introduced the speaker. The pre-application opened about a week before the meeting and stays open until January 8, 2027.

Sarah Shimmin is a senior program manager at Hello Housing, a nonprofit that works with local governments on affordable homeownership. Hello Housing administers the City of Newark's new Down Payment Assistance Loan Program: buyers and lenders send their documents to Hello Housing, and its team reviews them, so city staff do not have to run a loan program from scratch.

The program at a glance

• Up to $200,000 toward the down payment for a household at or below 100% of the Alameda County area median income (AMI), and up to $150,000 for a household from 100% to 120% of AMI. The city's loan can never be more than the first mortgage.
• 3% simple interest, and no monthly payment. The loan is deferred for 30 years.
• Nothing down from the buyer. The program does not require the buyer to put in money of their own.
• Repayment comes after 30 years, or sooner at a sale, transfer or refinance: the loan plus the greater of the 3% simple interest or the city's share of the home's gain in value.
• About $4 million is set aside for this first round, Sarah said. Hello Housing hopes the program continues after that.

Who qualifies

• Income at or under 120% of AMI, counting every adult who will live in the home. The income limits are on the program's chart and usually rise a little each year.
• A first-time buyer: no one in the household has owned a home in the last three years.
• Homebuyer education: every adult on title needs a certificate from eight hours of HUD-certified homebuyer education.
• Assets up to $225,000 when they apply, and no more than $60,000 kept after closing.
• Need, without strain: housing costs of at least 28% of income, the program's test that the help is needed, and all debts no more than 45%.
• They live in it. The home has to be their primary residence. No renting it out, not even short term, and the city checks every year.
• A lender's pre-approval comes later. For now, the pre-application asks only for basics: household size, income, first-time buyer status, and whether they live or work in Newark.

The program has an order of preference. First come households displaced from Newark by a proposed residential project. Next are households who live or work in Newark, and they need to have done so for at least six months before the pre-application; "work" means their primary job is in the city. Everyone else who is eligible comes third. They can still apply, they just may be invited to the full application later.

From pre-application to keys

1. Pre-application, open now until January 8, 2027 at 5 PM. A short form on Hello Housing's Newark page. Eligible applicants get an email with a unique ID.
2. A mandatory workshop on January 20, 2027. Only those who attend go on to the lottery.
3. The lottery, the week of January 25. Applicants are ranked at random within their preference group.
4. The full application. The top-ranked households are invited to send tax returns, bank statements and the rest. The first deadline is February 19.
5. Conditional approval and a reservation of funds. The buyer knows which loan amount they qualify for and has 120 days to get into contract. A 30-day extension is possible for a buyer who can show two offers that did not succeed. Low inventory, interest rates and competing offers do not count as extenuating circumstances, she noted.
6. Final approval, funding and closing. Hello Housing reviews the lender's package, the borrower's updated income, the inspections and the closing disclosure, the city gives final approval, and the city wires its funds to escrow.

The home, and the offer you write

The home has to be inside Newark city limits: a single-family home, a townhome or condo, an ADU sold separately under AB 1033, a live-work unit, or a below-market-rate home, for a household under 80% of AMI. Duplexes and other multi-unit properties, tenancy-in-common units, sales that are not at arm's length, new construction without a certificate of occupancy, and homes where a tenant was unlawfully evicted are out. The guidelines set no maximum price.

Inspections are required: a general home inspection and a pest inspection, each no more than 90 days old, and any health and safety repairs done before closing. The city may allow an escrow holdback of up to $10,000.

Give it time. The program needs at least 35 calendar days to close from the day the contract reaches Hello Housing, so build that into the offer. If an escrow would run past 60 days, the city can set a date by which it must close.

The first mortgage has to be a 30-year fixed-rate loan, with no adjustable rates, balloon payments or negative amortization, and it has to cover at least half the price. Combined loan-to-value can go to 100%. The city's loan sits in second position; another down payment program can be layered in, case by case.

Credits and cash. The city's money goes to the down payment only, not to closing costs, repairs, rate buydowns or debts. Seller, agent and lender credits are allowed toward non-recurring closing costs, and the buyer can take no more than $250 back at closing; anything over that comes off the city's loan. Gift funds from family and friends are fine. The city needs its own ALTA lender's title policy and must be named as loss payee on the homeowner's insurance.

How the repayment works

Sarah walked through the program's own example. A buyer purchases a $500,000 home with a $100,000 loan from the city, 20% of the price. Five years later they sell for $635,000.

• The home gained $135,000. The city's 20% share of that is $27,000.
• Simple interest on $100,000 at 3% for five years is $15,000.
• The city takes the greater of the two, so the buyer repays $127,000.

If the home has not gained in value, the interest is what is owed.

Questions from the room

What if the money runs out during the 120 days? A buyer who holds a reservation has those funds earmarked for them.

How many have applied? About 150 pre-applications in the first week. Most come in a surge right after the mailing list hears about it, and marketing is still going, so she could not guess where it will end up.

I work in Newark once or twice a week. Does that count? She believes the guidelines mean the applicant's primary job has to be in Newark. The guidelines on the program page spell it out.

Are other cities doing this? Emeryville has a fairly new program that may get more funding, and Concord has one, maybe Antioch as well, she said; a member mentioned Turlock. She did not know of others in the Bay Area. The county's own program, AC Boost, which Hello Housing also runs, finished its first round and is not taking applications now.

And several people asked for the slides. Questions go to the program team at Newark@hellohousing.org or (510) 863-3036.

For your buyers: a checklist

Sarah closed with the steps that keep a buyer in the running:

• Pre-apply now. It screens income, first-time buyer status and assets in a few minutes, and the window closes January 8.
• Start the homebuyer education early, so the certificate is ready when it is asked for.
• Work with a lender who has done this before, pairing a first mortgage with a city or county loan. Any lender can be used; Hello Housing is putting together a list of lenders with experience.
• Document the six months of living or working in Newark if claiming that preference.
• Shop for homes that qualify, and leave room in the contingencies for the inspections.
• Write seller credits to fit the rules, toward closing costs, because the city's loan covers only the down payment.

Watch it

The recording is on the council's YouTube channel. Sarah's talk starts about 32 minutes in, where Susan introduces her.

Guest speaker · October 22, 2026Newark's new down payment loan0:0025:52At a glanceApplyingThe homeRepaymentChecklistQuestions25:52Pop outThe council streamed the meeting on Facebook Live, and Tom Bigley posted the recording to YouTube. This opens where Susan Munkner introduces Sarah and runs to the last question. Press play to watch it right here, pop it out anytime, or watch it on YouTube.

The rest of the morning

First-timers. Venson Burnside, a mortgage lender, came with his colleague Sam Forbes and is a Golden State Valkyries fan, in only the team's second season. Jasmine Sandoval became a REALTOR® two weeks ago, invited by Chuck, after years as a sales rep for Peet's Coffee. Parul Arora of Compass, a Fremont native who moved over from Intero a couple of months ago, admitted with a laugh that a listing is what finally brought her, and confessed to making ice cream from scratch during the pandemic. The room has asked for a sample.

The market, from Susan Munkner. For the first time in a while, some good news: the 30-year average is down to about 7.4% from a peak near 7.6%, and the 10-year Treasury has come off its high, even with oil prices up. Mortgage applications fell 5.3% in a week and purchase applications 7%, and purchase applications are 18% below a year ago. Her advice: with fewer buyers out there, log every contact and keep a real follow-up rhythm, once a week for anyone active. And do not sell a loan on rate alone. Look at PMI against a higher rate without it, at loan-amount break points, and at whether a credit toward closing costs makes more sense now, so a client who refinances later is not paying those costs twice. Talk it through with your loan officer.

Super Tour. No homes were on tour that morning. Anthony reminded the room how the Super Tour works ($50 a home goes into a pot, drawn the next week from the signed sheets of agents who visited every home) and answered a question: to present a listing at the meeting it has to be on the MLS within 24 hours, and a coming-soon listing counts.

One listing. Parul presented 4895 Mildred Drive in Fremont's upper Glenmoor Gardens: four bedrooms, two baths and 1,588 square feet, from its original owner and on the market for the first time, listed at $1.6 million. It has been updated top to bottom except the kitchen and the two showers, the seller will pay for Section 1 termite work, and she has a rendering of how the walls could open up.

Announcements. Molly Ann Sherman, with Jackie and Terry Teal, brought a bag of tags for Adopt-an-Angel, which makes Christmas for children in foster care and in low-income families: more than 700 children this year, three unwrapped gifts each. Take a tag for a child, or buy from its Amazon wish list and have the gifts shipped straight to the elves. Anthony thanked them for keeping Georgia's spirit alive in this room. Women's Council of REALTORS® Alameda County installs its 2027 board on Friday, November 13, from 5 to 8 PM in Livermore wine country.

The drawing. Nobody brought prizes this week (double prizes next week, Anthony promised), but last week's Super Tour pot still went out. Val drew the winning sheet from the basket. It was hers.

Coming up: on October 29, a title panel, Spooky Tales from Title. Come in costume: there will be a winner.

Thank you

Thank you to Sarah Shimmin and Hello Housing for bringing the program to the Tri-Cities before almost anyone else heard about it, and for staying for every question.

We meet Thursday mornings from 8:45 in Fremont. Guests are welcome, and the speaker calendar has who is coming next.

Photographs by Harv Balu. Words by Harv Balu. The meeting was streamed on Facebook Live and posted to YouTube by Tom Bigley.

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Sources

• The meeting: the council's recording of October 22, 2026, on YouTube. Sarah's talk starts at 32:18.
• The program: Hello Housing's City of Newark Down Payment Assistance page, with the pre-application, the dates and the documents.
• The terms: the City of Newark Down Payment Assistance Loan Program Program Guidelines (June 23, 2026), including the repayment example, and the Implementation Manual, with the closing timeline.
• Newark's housing programs: the City of Newark's housing resources page, which also describes AC Boost.
• The market update: Susan Munkner's slides at the meeting.
• Adopt-an-Angel: its presentation at the meeting, and the National Association of REALTORS® Good Neighbor Awards profile of Georgia Butterfield, who led it.
• The listing: as presented at the meeting.

Disclosures

• This post reports what was said at the October 22, 2026 meeting of the Tri-Cities Marketing Council. Program details are as presented and as written in the program's guidelines dated June 23, 2026. Income limits, dates, funding and rules can change; the program's own documents and Hello Housing have the final word.
• It is general information only. It is not lending, financial, legal or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit or a promise that anyone will qualify. The council does not administer the program and does not endorse any lender or product mentioned.
• The market figures are as presented at the meeting and change daily.
• Listing details are as the agent presented them on October 22, and they can change. They are not an offer. Check with the listing agent.
• Photographs © 2026 Harv Balu, marked on each photo. Please ask before reusing them.