If becoming a homeowner has been on your mind lately, I’m sure you have been trying to research and gather as much information as possible to make such a big decision. Navigating the market can be intimidating and daunting when you first start out, but it’s important to know you are not alone. Assembling an experienced, knowledgeable team that will work on your behalf is so important. What’s great is that you have full autonomy to choose who you will work with, including choosing an experienced realtor and knowledgeable and local lender. When you work with the MUVE team and Guaranteed Rate Philly, you will be working with an expert team to make sure you are making the best decisions in your home buying journey.
I’m Jennifer Ashley, VP of Mortgage Lending with Guaranteed Rate with 19 years of lending experience. When you couple this with Guaranteed Rate being the second largest lender in the country, it allows me to combine my expertise with all of the programs and options that are available to you. I can confidently say, in all of my years in lending it is arguably the best time ever to be a first-time homebuyer. The latest home-buying programs and initiatives are all geared towards first time homebuyers and borrowers under certain income thresholds- making this segment of the market less affected by interest rates than ever before. There are programs out there to make home buying more affordable for you today. It is most important that you are working with an experienced loan officer who understands what is available, and will take the time to make sure you are in the best program to fit your unique profile.
With so many possibilities, I want to share with you some of the local and nationwide grant programs I’ve been using for my clients lately:
Introducing My Top 6 First Time Homebuyer Programs
1. PHFA
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency offers a variety of down payment assistance programs, including the Keystone Advantage Assistance Loan Program, which provides up to $6,000 in down payment assistance, and the Keystone Forgivable in Ten Years Loan Program (K-FIT) and (K-FLEX), which provides up to 5% of the purchase price in down payment assistance that is forgiven over 10 years for a purchase in any county in Pennsylvania.
2. THE ONEDOWN
The OneDown is a program exclusively through Guaranteed Rate offers a non-repayable grant of $2,000 along with a lender credit of $1,000 to be paired with conventional affordable loan program HomeReady.
3. PHILLY FIRST
Philly First is available to homebuyers in Philadelphia and offers up to 10K in the form of a 15 year forgivable grant. This can be paired with other grants and assistance.
4. BORROWSMART
BorrowSmart through Guaranteed Rate and Freddie Mac provides $3,000 in the form of a non-repayable grant ($1,500 from Freddie Mac and $1,500 from Guaranteed Rate) and can be combined with other grant programs. This is available in certain targeted markets for buyers under the allowable income threshold.
5. SPCP GRANT
SPCP Grant through Guaranteed Rate is available to homebuyers living in certain census tracts. This grant offers a non-repayable grant up to $8,000 along with a $500 credit towards the appraisal fee.
6. SPRINGBOARD
Springboard to Homeownership offered through Guaranteed Rate will offer a 4% down payment assistance loan when paired with a conventional mortgage.
Pretty impressive, right? If homeownership makes sense for you vs. continuing to rent, it’s so important to know all of your options. Becoming a homeowner may be more attainable than you think and these initiatives are just more reasons to not let the current market or interest rates hold you back from building wealth through homeownership. It just takes a minute to find out what is available to you in the way of financing programs based on your financial profile. You can always schedule a phone call or complete an application on my website to get started. To get started does not come with any cost or obligation and no hard credit checks, but is an important first step to starting your home buying journey.
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