"Although there is not a resale price limit/appreciation cap at time of resale, applicants should anticipate that a THAP Unit may sell at less than market value." That sentence is in Section 3.2.B of the Truckee Home Access Program guidelines, last updated by the Town on August 24, 2026, and it is the most important line in the program for anyone thinking about the deal.
The Town of Truckee will pay 16% of a home's purchase price, up to $150,000, in return for a 55-year deed restriction. No formula holds down the price you can ask when you sell. The restriction controls who is allowed to buy from you. Over 55 years, a smaller pool of buyers is the cost you agree to carry.
The price stays open and the buyer pool shrinks
Many deed-restriction programs in resort towns limit how much a home can appreciate. THAP takes another route. Section 6 of the guidelines says owners "may only sell their Unit to a Qualified Buyer Household or Local Business." Any later buyer has to meet the program's qualifications as they stand at the time of that sale and sign a new 55-year restriction. That buyer gets no THAP money. Only the first buyer or seller, at the point the restriction is recorded, is paid.
The Town says what it is building. Among the program goals in the June 9, 2026 staff report is to "create a second for-sale housing market that only income-qualified, locally-employed buyers have access to." A THAP home leaves Truckee's open market and joins that second one. Its value is whatever qualified buyers can pay. Second-home buyers from the Bay Area and investors don't count.
| Term | What the 2026 guidelines say |
|---|---|
| Resale price | No resale price limit or appreciation cap |
| Who can buy from you | Qualified buyer households or local businesses only |
| Next buyer's subsidy | None; they sign a new 55-year restriction without THAP funds |
| Refinancing | First-mortgage refinance needs Program Administrator approval; cash-out generally capped at a new first loan of 75% of current fair market value |
| Reverse mortgages | Not allowed |
| Renting | Qualified tenants as a primary residence, approved in advance, rent capped by formula, first lease at least 12 months |
| Short-term or hosted rental | Prohibited |
The refinance limits get less attention than they deserve. A household that buys with a THAP payment and later wants to draw on its equity through a cash-out loan can borrow up to 75% of current fair market value, and only with the administrator's sign-off. The Town's deed-restriction template does give the Town an option to buy the home, but that option is tied to an uncured owner default or a lender default or foreclosure notice. An ordinary, compliant sale doesn't trigger it.
Who the next buyer has to be
How much a THAP home can sell for depends on who qualifies to buy it, so the eligibility rules matter to sellers as much as to buyers. Under the current guidelines, a buying household:
- earns no more than 245% of Nevada County area median income
- includes at least one adult who works 30 or more hours a week inside the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District boundary, or who holds a verified full-time job offer there
- lives in the home as its principal residence at least 10 months of every year
- holds liquid assets of no more than 30% of the sale price, with retirement accounts excluded unless the money is withdrawn for the purchase
The 245% ceiling is higher than it may sound. The staff report explains that the Town set it during program design in FY 2021/22 because a household needed more than 245% of median income to afford Truckee's median house price, and a 2025 review kept it in place. Under the 2025 Nevada County figures, 245% of AMI comes to $213,640 for the smallest household size in the Town's table and $329,648 for the largest.
The asset limit narrows the pool in a way the income limit doesn't. A buyer with a large brokerage account but modest wages can be shut out even if their income qualifies. Anyone selling a THAP home later is selling to households that are working locally, earning within the limits and holding limited cash. Those buyers often use larger mortgages, so a THAP resale tends to move with what they can borrow at the rates of the day.
Visitor stays fund the program
The money behind THAP comes from tourism. The staff report says THAP funding comes from Measure K Transient Occupancy Tax, the tax collected on short-term lodging stays. Visitors who rent rooms and vacation homes in Truckee are paying to take homes out of the second-home and rental market for 55 years.
The Town has worked out the cost. Between November 2022 and May 2026, the average THAP payment was $110,952, ranging from $49,280 to $150,000. Spread over the 55-year term, that is about $2,017 per home per year, or roughly $817 per bedroom per year. The Town pays once, and the restriction stays on the home for the next several owners.
For that money, the Town has recorded 32 restrictions as of June 2026, housing 80 people. The homes are 27 single-family houses, three townhouses and two condos. Their median purchase price was $699,500, ranging from $308,000 to the $937,500 cap. The Council's goal is for 10% of Truckee's housing stock, about 1,500 homes, to be deed-restricted by 2032. THAP is one of the programs working toward that number.
Fewer deals with money still in the budget
Purchases have dropped in each full fiscal year since the first big one:
| Fiscal year | THAP restrictions | Average THAP payment | Average buyer AMI |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2022/23 | 2 | $99,600 | 178% |
| FY 2023/24 | 15 | $103,556 | 163% |
| FY 2024/25 | 11 | $121,425 | 145% |
| FY 2025/26, to date in the June report | 4 | $115,560 | 158% |
Funding was not the limit. For FY 2025/26, the Town had set aside $1,000,000 for household purchases, and the June staff report shows $462,240 spent and $537,760 still available. The $125,000 line for local businesses had not been used. The report gives no reason for the slowdown.
The market numbers point to one pressure. The Tahoe Sierra MLS September 2026 statistics put the median single-family sale price in the MLS's Truckee area at $1,100,000 across 37 sales that month. Tahoe Donner, which the MLS reports on its own, came in at $1,275,000 across 27 sales. THAP's $937,500 price cap is about $162,500 below the Truckee figure. 16% of $937,500 works out to exactly $150,000, so the cap and the maximum payment meet at the same price. A buyer can't get more Town money by stretching to a pricier home, because any home over the cap is ineligible.
THAP's own track record shows the pattern. The median THAP purchase was $699,500, and 16% of that is close to the $110,952 average payment. Most deals have closed well under the cap, in the part of Truckee's market that is condos, townhouses and smaller single-family homes. With the September median at $1.1 million, a THAP buyer is shopping in a narrow price band.
The option for sellers
THAP isn't limited to buyers. Under the guidelines, a seller can agree to a reduced price and apply for Town funding to cover the difference between that price and the appraised value. In the seller pathway the guidelines set a $787,500 maximum sale price and give a $150,000 payment as an example.
For a long-time owner of a modest Truckee home, this changes the math. Selling into THAP means the restriction is recorded at your sale and the home leaves the open market. The Town makes up the price gap up to appraisal, and the buyer pays the reduced price. Every later owner inherits the smaller buyer pool and the price-open terms in the table above.
Owners who want to keep the house have a separate tool. Truckee's Lease to Locals program records no deed restriction. It pays owners to rent to qualified local workers, with incentives of $4,500 to $18,000 for leases of 12 months or longer, depending on how many qualifying tenants live in the home, and a rent cap of $3,500 a month. The June 2026 staff report counted 263 homes converted since the program began.
Questions buyers and sellers ask
Does the restriction ever expire? Each restriction runs 55 years. Every later buyer signs a new 55-year restriction when they buy.
Can I rent a THAP home as a vacation rental? No. The 2026 guidelines prohibit advertising or operating a THAP unit as a short-term or hosted rental. Longer-term rentals to qualified tenants need advance approval and follow the rent formula.
Do I have to use the money for my down payment? No. The guidelines allow THAP funding to go toward a down payment but don't require it.
Can the Town change the rules? The guidelines say the Town may update funding amounts, income limits, purchase prices and rent rates from time to time. The terms recorded in your deed restriction are the ones to read closely.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before signing any deed restriction, confirm how its terms apply to you with a real estate attorney, a lender and the program administrator.
If you're weighing a THAP purchase against an unrestricted home in Truckee, or deciding whether to sell a family property into the program, The Moore Team can compare the restricted buyer pool with the open market for your specific home before you commit to either one. Schedule a free consultation.
