They’ll pay it back twice:
Just their Property Taxes will be $150k over 12-15 years.
According to the article, the loans are repaid if and when the home buyer sells the home. From the article:
.....For example, if you bought a $500,000 home, you’d receive 20%, or $100,000, to help with your down payment and closing costs.
If you sell the home in the future, you’ll be required to pay back the 20% loan, plus 20% of the home’s appreciation.
For example, if the $500,000 home sells for $700,000, there is a $200,000 appreciation. You would owe 20% of that — or $40,000 — in addition to the original loan.
However, if you sell your home and it hasn’t grown in value at that time, you would only need to pay back the original 20% loan.
There are exceptions for borrowers whose incomes are less than or equal to 80% of the Area Median Income. For those borrowers, they would only need to pay back 15% of the home’s appreciation, along with the original loan. To see if your income qualifies, use the HomeReady