[William Tygart]

First Time Home buyer

Hello,

I am a first time home buyers and would like to know
if there are any type of down payment assistance programs.
If yes how long does it take to go through the process and what
is the process?

Thanks,

No Money Down



Dear No Money Down,

Thanks so much for your question! With regards to down payment assistance programs, a very good resource is <EDITED BY ENIGMA - NO COMMERCIAL WEBSITES> for a listing of local and national down payment assistance programs.


There are basically three different types of down payment programs.

The first one is basically a loan or second mortgage that some states,counties, or even cities offer to borrowers to help with closing costs. These loans are accepted by a number of different loan programs even though they make the combined loan to value on your home over 100%. Some of these loans offer zero percent interest while others offer very low rates.

The second type is a Grant offered by a City, County, or State. These grants are forgivable (meaning you do not have to pay them back) if you stay in a particular area and don't sell your home within a specified period of time. (Usually 3-5 years) The reason government offers these grants is they hope to increase home ownership (increase tax base) in a particular area and figure they will recoup their grant after a specified period of time through Real Estate taxes.

The third type is hard to describe but I will try. They are called "gifting"programs and what they allow is for a seller to make a donation to the down payment program and you receive an amount just slightly lower then the donation amount. Not all programs allow for this but if your mortgage professional and Realtor plan it correctly there is a good chance you could get into your home with no money down.

There are programs that allow you to roll in your closing costs into you loan as well so that you can come in with no/low money down... you would want to talk to your mortgage professional to get the exact details on your situation.

As far as a time frame, most programs take very little time, a matter of days, but finding the right program and making sure the lender will accept it might take some time to find the right fit.