California multifamily developer guides
Affordable Housing Finance: LIHTC, Bonds & Rental Subsidies
How the capital stack of an affordable deal works: 9% vs 4% credits with tax-exempt bonds, CTCAC/CDLAC allocation, extended-use compliance, and layering Section 8, HOME and Davis-Bacon obligations.
4% vs 9% LIHTC: choosing the credit track
9% credits are a lottery worth ~70% of eligible basis; 4% credits are as-of-right with bonds and now need only 25% bond financing — the 2025 changes moved real deals from impossible to feasible.
Read the guide →LIHTC compliance and extended use: the covenant is the asset
The credits run 10 years, recapture risk 15 — but the California regulatory agreement runs 55. Every underwrite of a credit asset is an underwrite of that covenant.
Read the guide →Section 8, HOME and the labor layers: pricing federal strings
Every federal dollar carries a rulebook — HAP contracts stabilize revenue, HOME fills gaps, and Davis-Bacon prices the labor. Underwrite the rulebooks, not just the dollars.
Read the guide →FHA multifamily debt: 221(d)(4) and 223(f) for small sponsors
Roughly 40-year fixed, fully amortizing, non-recourse debt no bank will match — if you can survive 6–12 months of HUD processing and price the Davis-Bacon delta on 221(d)(4).
Read the guide →The average-income test: designations, flexibility and the compliance edge
Designate units in 10-point bands from 20% to 80% AMI, keep the average at 60% or below — the 2022 regulations turned a compliance minefield into the mixed-income workhorse.
Read the guide →NEPA and HUD environmental review: the federal clearance before closing
One choice-limiting action — buying the site, swinging a hammer — between application and clearance can void every federal dollar in the deal; option the land instead.
Read the guide →More developer guides
- Density Bonus & Zoning Incentives
- Entitlements & Streamlined Approvals
- Rent Control & Tenant Protections
- Demolition, Replacement Housing & Relocation
- Impact Fees, Exactions & Special Taxes
- CEQA & Environmental Review
- Building Codes & Construction Standards
- Subdivision, Condo Maps & Development Agreements
- Site Selection & Development Due Diligence
Every rule cited in these guides links to the verbatim statute or regulation in the California Code Library and the federal housing-law library.
Apply these rules to a real parcel
Ask the AI how lihtc, bonds & subsidies play out in a specific city or county — grounded in the code text.