Buying in Baltimore City? You Don’t Have to be a First Time Buyer for this program! August 29, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Interesting Stuff, Local News, Mortgage News.add a comment
I have long extolled the virtues of the Maryland CDA loan program aka More House 4 Less program on my blog. This is a fabulous program primarily geared for first time home buyers but if you are buying in what is considered a “targeted area” you don’t have to be a first time buyer! You just can’t own any other properties at the time of settlement. All of Baltimore City is a targeted area and that is a great thing if you are looking buy there.
Rates for a 30 year fixed rate loan (either conventional or FHA) with CDA are 6.25% with 0 points, well below the current market average. Plus, CDA and the Maryland Housing Fund offer true 100% financing if you are qualified. If that wasn’t good enough, you can also get $2500 towards closing costs if you are purchasing a property that is less that $200,000. You need to make less than $98,040 for a 1-2 person household, and $114,380 for 3+ in your househould for Baltimore City.
FHLB-A First Time Buyer Program Still Has Funds! August 25, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Interesting Stuff, Local News.6 comments
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (clickfor my first post on this program) First Time Home Buyer program, which can give you $10k towards down payment and closing costs still has funds. But they are running out!
This program gets new funds January of each year and tends to run out sometime in August/September each year. You need to make less than 80% of the HUD median income for the area you are buying, but the FANTASTIC thing about this program is that you can use it anywhere in the state of Maryland (or all of Virginia or DC). Also…this money counts as your 3% required investment for FHA loans. Oh…and this money is forgivable after only 5 years. It used to be forgivable over 10 years, but was recently reduced to just 5.
So…if you’ve been putting off finding a new home, hurry up!
Support HR 6694! Save Seller Funded Down Payment Assistance Programs August 16, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Interesting Stuff, Mortgage News.2 comments
In response to that big housing bill that passed, a new bill has been proposed to save those seller funded down payment assistance programs that are set to go away as of October 1st.
Check out the impact of these DPA (down payment assistance) programs in just the state of Maryland (from http://www.ameridream.org/Documents/ImpactSheet/MD.pdf):
- 13,110 Maryland residents have benefited from DPA
- $71,015,801 in DPA gifts have been granted in Maryland
- $2,110,498,419 in mortgages have been made in connection with DPA programs
Go to www.supporthomeownership.com/ to send a letter to your elected officials in support of HR 6694 and learn more about seller funded down payment assistance.
HR 3221: The Bad News…..the End of Seller Funded Down Payment Assitance August 14, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Mortgage News.1 comment so far
FHA loans require buyer’s to contribute 3% of their own funds, these funds can include gift funds. If you didn’t have the 3% or a family member that could give it to you, you could utilize a seller funded down payment assistance program.
These programs like Nehemiah and Ameridream, have been around for a long time. They work by having the seller make a donation to the organization, the organization takes a processing fee and then makes a gift to the home buyer. This gift can count as the 3%.
This will be going away as of October 1st, 2008. You don’t need to close by October 1st, but you do need have a contract and identified who you are using for your mortgage so that you can register your loan with FHA.
If you or someone you know needs the ability to implement down payment assistance as a tool to buy a home, get on it quickly. The clock is ticking.
The end of these programs is going to be a big blow to first time home buyers, who in my experience, don’t always have 3% of the sales price to put down. Even if they have the 3%, does it make sense to have buyers put down all of the extra cash they may have on hand, rather than keeping it for a rainy day? In addition to these programs going away, FHA’s contribution is increasing to 3.5% of the sales price as of October 1st as well.
Need some good news? Down payment assitance programs like CDA DSELP and the Federal Home Loan Bank First Time Home Buyer Program are going to become more important than ever as these funds do count towards a buyer’s required contribution. So talking to an expert in these programs would do a first time buyer a lot of good too!
