I would check with arch on the selling restriction. I have sold 3 arch properties and they all have that restriction. 1 did not. It all depends on what property you are buying at. Arch will let you know if that property would be subject to those restrictions.

Not all homes purchase through the ARCH program are subject to the resale restrictions. I have clients who bought a below-market home through ARCH and can immediately sell for a profit, no restriction. Let me know if you have more specific questions.

The way arch works is the cities normally say they want the builders to build a certain amount of affordable housing in a certain area. You see a lot of arch properties in planned communities like Redmond ridge and Issaquah highlands.
What it is for is to be able to have affordable housing. And depending on the area there is a cap on the income you make. For instance I believe Issaquah cap is 60k combined house hold income. And that is pretty high.

So it is great for a first time homebuyer no investors are allowed. You are not allowed to rent the units out.
Its great because the properties are normally below market value to get people in the door to home ownership.

Now when you go to sell the property you do need to contact ARCH and they will set the price for what you can sell the property for. So a non arch property went up in value 5% a year then arch may say you can only sell it at a 2% increase. And you would have to put it on the market at no higher then 2% of what you paid for the property. Plus you can only sell it to someone who fits the same arch guidelines with the income restriction. Now I believe that after the property has been on the market for 3 months and longer the arch can be waived and you can sell it to anyone.
I hope this helps.

Keith

It means that when the unit/home was constructed the builder worked with the city to offer it as affordable housing. Meaning that there are income qualifiers. The dollar amount varies by the size of the unit and number of people in your household. Common Maximum Incomes For ARCH Home Ownership Program 2008 listed below.

Unit Type Household Size 120% 100% 90% 80%

Studio 1 Person $68,376 $56,980 $51,282 $45,584
2 Person $78,144 $65,120 $58,608 $52,096

1 Bdrm 1 - 2 Person $78,144 $65,120 $58,608 $52,096
2 Bdrm 1- 3 Person $87,912 $73,260 $65,934 $58,608
3 Bdrm 2 - 4 Person $97,680 $81,400 $73,260 $65,120

The program also stipulates that the property must be owner occupied and when you sell it, the city sets the price by using a formula based off of the original sales price and an appreciation index. The city has first right of refusal to purchase. If they don't purchase it, the new buyer has to be qualified under the ARCH income guidelines.

Essentially it's a program that allows lower income families to purchase homes in neighborhoods that they traditionally wouldn't be able to. The resale guidelines are set in place to keep affordable housing available in the future.

If it's the ARCH I'm thinking of ...it's lower income buyers in areas that usually require higher income buyers to afford. Check the link for specific details on ARCH