Down Payment Assistance & First Time Home Buyers

Many downpayment assistance programs do not require you to be a first-time home buyer

Our segment today is going to cover down payment assistance programs and do you have to be a first-time home buyer to qualify for them? According to the national association of realtors, the most difficult step in the home buying process is saving for the down payment. And as my granddaughter says – ta-dah! Oh, she’s so cute… so is my grandson. They’re both awesome. Enter the down payment assistance programs. Many folks think you still do need 20% down to buy a home. You really don’t. You can if you want, but you really don’t. Another little nugget is many downpayment assistance programs do not require you to be a first-time home buyer. In some cases, you can use the programs over and over again depending on your situation.

What these programs do is they provide money that can be put towards your down payment or closing costs or a combination of both. That way you don’t need as much money up front, which can make the prospect of purchasing your first home or another home, much less daunting. So, the money arrives in one of three ways. It’s a grant where you don’t have to pay it back. Some people call this a gift. It’s really a grant because it’s coming from an entity. The next one would be an interest free loan that typically runs with the term of your first mortgage and it is paid back later. There are no payments or no interest. And the third is a loan that also runs with a term of your first mortgage and has very small payments and very low interest. So, as you can see, there’s a lot of different ways to put this together. No, you don’t have to be a first-time home buyer to qualify for down payment assistance in many cases.

If you have questions, let me know.