KINGS BEACH, Calif. – The Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) hosted their second Lunch and Learn program with speakers Heidi Volkhardt Allstead and Jackelin McCoy of the Truckee Tahoe Workforce Housing Agency (TTWHA), Chelsy Delia from Guild Mortgage, and Isaac Landman of Placemate. The session was titled “Updates from the Field: Achievable Housing Lunch and Learn” and focused on what programs are currently happening in the area to bring “achievable” housing to North Shore and Truckee.

Achievable housing has been a goal of the TTCF and its partners since 2017, referring to the unmet housing needs for those who cannot afford housing at the current market rate. The Mountain Housing Council’s definition includes those at the traditional definition of affordable, which is at or below 80% of the area median income, up to 120% of the area median income.

Allstead, executive director at TTWHA and McCoy, the program manager at TTWHA started the meeting by discussing the services that their organization provides. Allstead said that their organization “connects the missing middle of 80% area median income and above to local and statewide housing resources, local rental programs, and down payment assistance,” among other programs. McCoy pointed out that their housing concierge services, which help those looking to sell or improve their homes, expanded about a year ago.

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TTWHA also aids those looking to purchase homes through the Truckee Home Access Program and their Master Lease Pilot Program launch, which will maintain rents at below-market rates, approximately around 100% of the area median income. McCoy and Allstead both emphasized the importance of finding housing for new locals and current locals, as well as ensuring fair rental practices and helping those who are renters realize their possible homeownership potential. The organization is currently working on a project with nine apartments aimed at maintaining affordable housing at below-market rates.

The TTWHA is also looking at workforce housing locations in Alder Creek and Hobart Mills parcels. As a Joint Powers Authority, the TTWHA is looking to determine their role in these developments. Next month, they will be launching their public affairs housing advocacy program with the Sierra Business Council and other housing partners.

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Delia, who is one half of the Rice-Delia team, spoke about mortgaging and finance opportunities for those looking to buy homes in the area. She talked about the impact her two fathers had on how she understood financing—her birth father, a gameshow host, died and had two homes in foreclosure, which led her to be placed in church housing. Later on, her stepfather who died in 2023 left an estate that included her family because “he focused on long-term investment and action,” said Delia.

Delia presented data that indicated there would likely not be a repeat of the same issues that led to the 2008 housing market crash. For example, in 2008, there was too much inventory in the housing market, while in recent years, there is too little inventory. There are also far more programs in place to help with financing a home. She encouraged people not to wait and to consult with services to see if buying a home now is the right choice rather than waiting. Delia concluded by saying, “It can lead to long-term wealth creation if you buy a home today.”

The last speaker, Landman, moved to Tahoe in 2019 and became the operations manager of Placemate, a company that helps local employees secure housing in tourism-based communities. Placemate acts as a local listings database and hosts Lease to Locals and Rooted Renters programs.

Lease to Locals incentivizes property owners to convert their places into long-term rentals for local employees, while Rooted Renters incentivizes landlords to rent to locals at below-market rates.

Landman said that there’s a current softening of the rental market. “We increased inventory from 2020 to 2022… which has allowed tenants to be more selective of where they live.” He went on to highlight the positives of this effect for the market and tenants, as it helps increase the quality of housing overall when tenants can be choosy.

Placemate also uses tools like Zillow to see possible leads for their Lease to Locals program. In Truckee, they identified 173 properties that could be suitable, in East Placer, 115 properties, and in South Lake Tahoe, 113 properties. While these aren’t all guaranteed, they represent an opening for more locals to potentially have a place to live.

Landman finished by saying that the Lease to Locals program has expanded and that the shortage of workforce housing is a major issue—which is why Placemate is now working with 10 markets across six states, along with many public-private partnerships and nonprofit partnerships.

The Lunch and Learn offered space for questions, where people asked about how Lease to Locals works, what counts as area median income, what other ways of development might help with workforce housing, and how low-income housing is maintained. Kristina Kind, program director of TTCF stated that they were committed to “housing support at all levels.”

Attendees also indicated their interest for future sessions, including an interest in tiny homes and master leasing as potential topics.

The next Lunch and Learn session will take place on November 8, 2024, which will be the last one this year. Afterwards, the program resumes in February 2025.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.