Didn't think you could find a three bedroom under $150,000 in Logan Square anymore? Well, I might have the solution for you.

Back in December, I briefly mentioned a terrific program here in the city known as CPAN—the Chicago Partnership for Affordable Neighborhoods. Soon thereafter, I was invited by Molly Sullivan at the Department of Housing to sit down with program director Bonnie Logan and learneverything I could about this institution.

Today we are going to walk through the entire CPAN process and hopefully you will leave this article with a clear understanding of the program and how it can help you become a happy homeowner here in Chicago.

The Chicago Partnership for Affordable Neighborhoods is a partnership between the City of Chicago and developers to ensure opportunities for affordable condominiums and single family homes in appreciating neighborhoods, such as Uptown, Logan Square and Lincoln Square. In a nutshell, participating developers write down the purchase price to an affordable level on a percentage of the units in a market-rate development. There is also possible purchase price assistance to qualified homebuyers.

First off, you must be a first-time homebuyer or someone who has not owned a home within the past three years. That's the easy one. The second requirement deals with household income. Eligible purchasers will include families with income ranges up to 100 percent of the area median.

You can get additional help if your household income is at 80 percent of the area median. That may qualify you for purchase price assistance (PPA). PPA can be provided to households who demonstrate a gap between the amount of the mortgage they can secure, and the affordable sales price. That assistance comes in the form of a deferred loan at 0 percent interest, which is reduced on an annual pro rata basis. So, if you stay in the property for a long time, the loan will eventually go away.

So what is the "area median"? The area median is an income level set by the City of Chicago for this particular program. For example, 100 percent of the "area median" for a household of two is $60,300; 80 percent of the "area median" is $46,400. What this means is that in order to qualify for CPAN, you and your spouse or buying partner need to have a combined income of less than $60,300; to qualify for PPA you need to be under $46,400. For a household of one, it's $52,800 and $40,600, respectively. If you would like the area medians for other household sizes, check out this article at performink.com and click on the link to see the full chart.

So I'm assuming you're qualified, or you would have left this article for the Hotlines by now. Let's get to it! To purchase an affordable home through CPAN, follow these steps:

Meet with a mortgage lender

Before participating in CPAN you should obtain mortgage loan approval. To get pre-approved, we will take a look at all aspects of your income, credit and assets, and determine your buying power. We will not only look at what size mortgage you qualify for, but also what is best suited to your budget. Once we decide what property price range is right for you, you will receive a pre-approval letter and are now ready for the next step.

Receive pre-purchase counseling

Pre-purchase counseling will provide information on the obligations and responsibilities associated with owning a condominium, help you develop strategies to establish good credit if necessary and further educate you on the entire home buying process. The educational requirement will generally consist of a meeting with a home ownership counselor followed by a two-hour seminar provided by any of several home ownership housing counseling centers throughout the city. These organizations, which include Acorn Housing Corporation at 650 S. Clark Street and Rogers Park Community Development Corporation at 1530 W. Morse Ave., are funded by the Department of Housing and are here to serve you. Once you have received certificates of completion for both general homebuyer counseling and condo counseling, it is time for you to…

Meet with a CPAN counselor

You'll call Bonnie Logan at the Chicago Department of Housing at 312/742-0637 and schedule an appointment to determine your eligibility for the CPAN program. After Bonnie verifies your income and homeowner status, we are finally ready to get to the good part.

Find a home!

You can find a list of available CPAN properties via www.cityofchicago.org. Once you find a development that interests you, contact the listed representative and set up an appointment. You'll go in and take a look at a model or a floor plan of the unit; if you would like to move forward, you'll need your certificates of completion mentioned earlier and a check for up to 5 percent of the purchase price (varies for each property). Once you have a signed sales contract, you will bring your mortgage lender back in to handle your financing, you will have the place professionally inspected and I would recommend enlisting the services of a real estate attorney to help guide you through the closing process. (In general, CPAN transactions do not allow for the use of a realtor.)

There you have it! I hope this article has given you a clear overview of the CPAN process. There is much more to this great program, but frankly, I'm out of room. I'm happy to talk to anyone about CPAN in greater detail on an individual basis.

Quick note: be sure to catch the Fourth Annual Historic Chicago Bungalow Expo on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Hermann Union Building, 3241 S. Federal St. The Expo will provide exciting opportunities to learn about new technologies, restoration techniques, arts & crafts interiors, grants and rebates for historic Chicago bungalows. Please visit www.chicagobungalow.com for more information.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, even if you are already a home owner, feel free to call or e-mail me anytime. As always, please send me any comments or suggestions about this article, and let me know if there are topics you would like to see discussed.

Mike McNamara has been a working actor in Chicago for the past seven years, in theatre, commercials, television and film. Mike is also a mortgage consultant and loan originator with West America Mortgage Company. He can be reached anytime at 773/398-0021 or McNamara310@aol.com. Special thanks to Bonnie Logan and the Chicago Department of Housing for contributing to this article.