Basic Overview

If you have a prospective purchaser who is a first time homebuyer and is looking for a home in Anne Arundel County, we encourage you to refer them to our office. They will need to enroll in and complete our free Homeownership Counseling Program in order to be eligible to purchase one of the ACDS Homes for Sale. To assist in keeping the homes affordable, unless specified on the Home for Sale Fact Sheet for a particular property, ACDS does not pay Realtor fees or commissions.

Our Homes

ACDS is a nonprofit organization and serves as Anne Arundel County’s housing and community development office. We construct or rehabilitate homes throughout the County and sell them to first time, income eligible homebuyers.

The sales price for each home is determined by its market value. ACDS sets the maximum mortgage amount based on the affordability of a typical buyer whose household income is at or below the established income limit for the home for sale. The homebuyer then obtains a private mortgage for that amount, and ACDS places a “soft second” mortgage on the property for the difference between the mortgage amount and the market value.

For example, if the home appraises for $240,000 and ACDS establishes a maximum mortgage of $180,000, the first lien will be for $180,000 and the soft second lien will be for $60,000 ($240,000 - $180,000). The soft second lien typically carries a term of 30 years with zero percent interest, so there are no payments until the home is sold, transferred, or repaid in 30 years, whichever occurs first. In addition, in exchange for this subsidy, the homeowner may be required to participate in an equity sharing arrangement with ACDS.

Income Limits

Most of our homes are made available exclusively to first time homebuyers with household incomes that do not exceed 80 percent of the area median income. However, occasionally homes are sold to households with slightly higher incomes. Hence, all potential buyers are encouraged to review the income information on the Featured Homes fact sheets or contact us to determine if they may be eligible to purchase one of our homes. Regardless of income, we accept anyone who is interested in learning more about the homebuying process into our free Homeownership Counseling Program.