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Select Board approves $175,000 to help Housing Trust buy and resale a home at 28 Cross Road
Summary
The Select Board voted to grant $175,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund to Falmouth Housing Trust's "home buyown" program to buy a market-rate house at 28 Cross Road, rehabilitate it and resell it with a perpetual deed restriction priced up to 140% of area median income (resale target $380,000).
The Falmouth Select Board voted Jan. 28 to award $175,000 from the town's Affordable Housing Fund to the Falmouth Housing Trust to acquire, renovate and resell a market-rate home at 28 Cross Road under the trust's home-buyown program.
Laura Moahan, the housing trust's executive, told the board the single-story ranch is move-in ready after upgrades (new heat pump, kitchen, windows and shingles) and will be resold under a perpetual deed restriction at up to 140% of area median income. The trust plans to list the home at a resale price of $380,000; with the town contribution the acquisition and rehab plan yields a purchase-to-resale turnaround in roughly three months, the trust said.
Moahan and staff described the resale process: qualified buyers on the trust's "ready to buy" list will visit an open house, submit pre-approval, income verification and a short election form; if multiple buyers qualify, the trust gives preference to maximum-household-size applicants and, if needed, conducts a lottery witnessed by town staff.
Why the board approved an amount above the usual policy threshold: Town staff and the Select Board's affordable housing working group recommended the higher award, saying the property's move-in-ready condition, lack of land disturbance and speed of resale justified the extra $25,000 over the normal guideline.
What it means: The grant is intended to preserve an existing home as permanently affordable to moderate-income, workforce households. The trust said it expects the renovated home to close and be resold by late March 2026.
Speakers quoted: "This is our missing middle. It's our workforce," Laura Moahan said, describing the program's goal of creating workforce-accessible homeownership in a market where median prices exceed $800,000. Town staff noted the grant received working-group and CPC (Community Preservation Committee) support.
Next steps: Moahan said the trust will hold an open house around Feb. 15 and use its established application-and-lottery process to determine the buyer.
Speakers and attribution: The grant award and the motion to authorize the town manager to finalize paperwork were moved by a board member and seconded on the record; the motion passed unanimously.
Provenance: First presentation and vote recorded in Select Board meeting transcript (presentation by Laura Moahan; motion and vote).
