Leslie Spencer and Jennie Moser, both 26, were too busy with their teaching duties to attend the Howard County housing event that awarded each the right to buy a new, discounted two-bedroom condominium in Elkridge, but their parents stepped in for them.
"This was perfect, especially with the gas prices," said Carolyn Spencer, Leslie's mother, at the county housing department ceremony Wednesday afternoon. The young teacher lives in Ellicott City with her parents. She wanted to buy a place of her own, "but on a teacher's salary, she didn't think it was affordable," her mother said.
"I feel very excited," Leslie Spencer, a teacher at Veterans Elementary in Ellicott City, said yesterday. "Since I work in Howard County, it's nice to be able to live here as well."
Moser teaches at Columbia's Wilde Lake High. Her mother, Melissa Moser, said her daughter rents a place in Ellicott City but wants to buy in the county, where she grew up and works.
"It's a real opportunity for those who work the hardest for our county but can't afford to live in the county," Melissa Moser said.
Crystal Chandler, 23, a teacher at Atholton High who also coaches junior varsity girls lacrosse there, made it to the Gateway building Wednesday and received the right to buy a $182,796 condominium at Elkridge Crossing off Montgomery Road that normally sells for more than $250,000.
"I think it's a great opportunity," Chandler said, despite the financial stress of managing her school loans and a $1,450 a month condo payment.
Five condominiums and four town houses - all in three separate Ryan Home developments along U.S. 1 - were awarded to buyers under the county's Moderate Income Housing Unit program at the drawing. There were no buyers for three Elkridge Crossing town houses, which will be available at the next round of moderate home awards scheduled for August, county housing officials said.
There were 11 qualified buyers for the dozen units, but two chosen for Elkridge Crossing chose to wait for future selections. County law requires builders in some zones to provide a small percentage of new homes at lower prices to enable civil servants and other middle-income working families to buy them. If they later want to sell and move on, buyers must sell the units back to the county Housing Commission at a controlled price.
High home prices since 2001 have made it hard for county officials to find enough qualified, income limited buyers who can afford the new units.
