Filed under: Real Estate
‘Tis the season to buy houses, Fala lalala, la la la la. If you have a job and your credit rating is reasonable and you’re still paying a landlord for the roof over your head, you’re missing the chance of a lifetime to jump into the real estate market. THIS is the best investment you can ever make. By the way – it’s a LONG TERM investment, not a buy-flip-profit endeavor.
Everyone knows about the $8,000 tax credit from Uncle Sam. That’s nice. The rest of the country is trying to get you off your rented porch by giving you money if you become a home owner. But there’s another “best-kept” secret. There is OTHER money out there to help you purchase a home. The state and feds have GRANT money to assist with your down payment and closing costs. I don’t know about other areas, but I can tell you there are great programs in Waukesha County for first time home buyers, and not enough people know about them.
There is a non-profit agency called HBC Services (stands for Home Buying Counseling). They offer counseling to first time home buyers. They’ll help you weed through credit issues, set up a budget and savings plan. They’ll help you get keys for your own home! If you attend a couple classes and you income qualify, they offer a $1500 closing cost assistance grant. This grant is deferred until you sell the home. In other words, you have to pay it back years down the road when YOU sell the house, but there’s no interest and no monthly payments.
There are also two other programs available to income qualified first time home buyers: HOME Consortium Down Payment Assistance and the Down Payment Plus from the Federal Home Loan Bank. One grant is $5,000 and the other is $4,000. Both are forgivable after 5 years. Every year you own your home 20% is forgiven until it disappears altogether. Quick math…. $8,000 + $5,000 + $4,000 + $1,500 = $18,500…. Not a bad deal, is it??
So what’s the income qualification?? If you are single, your annual income cannot exceed $39,600. If there are just 2 of you: $45,250. If you are married and have one child: $50,900 and $56,550 if you have two children. These numbers are based on 80% of the County Median Income. They probably figure if you make more than that, you should already own a home!
How do you take advantage of this? First, you want to work with a Realtor who is familiar with this program. I am amazed at how many Realtors have no idea this money is available! You also have to work with a lender who participates in these programs. You can find these lenders by working with a Realtor who knows about the programs! You also need to go through HBC Services to qualify as a participant in the program. It’s that easy – and…it’s really not a secret – tell someone!
