Elkridge Home to Latest Housing Lottery Winner

Elkridge's newest resident won big Saturday.

Kyla Sullivan was the winner of a reduced-price home in Elkridge at the "Come Home to Howard County" housing fair on April 14.

The county offered two homes at below-market price to entrants who met moderate-income requirements.

Sullivan, 29, is a business operations analyst who had been living in Columbia with her parents and daughter with special needs, according to the Howard County Times.

Market price for the three bedroom, three bath home she'll be moving into in Howard Square is $249,000, said Kelly Cimino, coordinator of the moderate income housing unit (MIHU) program for Howard County.

Through the lottery, Sullivan was able to purchase the home for $209,813.

MIHU enables people of moderate means to afford homeownership in Howard County. Open enrollment periods, when people can apply for a home at a discounted price, are held in January, April, July and October.

“We usually receive 30-40 applications each period,” said Cimino.

The average home price in Howard County is $385,000, according to The Baltimore Sun, so the lottery makes homeownership a reality for people making incomes below the county's six-figure average.

Thanks to the MIHU program, Sullivan should be able to move in within 30 to 45 days, said Cimino.

The home, which is brand-new and move-in ready, is located in Howard Square, a development north of Waterloo Road on Route 1. According to site development plans, Howard Square is slated to include 1,067 townhomes by 2019, of which 252 houses will be part of the MIHU program.