You have come to the right place if you are looking to purchase a home in the Phoenix area!
We are still seeing record low interest rates across the country and in reality, now is a really great time to buy a home.
Currently as we write this article, a fixed 30-year loan has an interest rate right around 3.8%.
Still below 4%!
And many people who want to buy a home, but might be a little short on down payment money might be wondering, is down payment assistance still available?
The answer is YES!
According to Realtor.com, across the country there are around 2290 down payment programs available and many home buyers might be overlooking thousands of dollar that are available to them.
“It’s important for buyers to research down payment programs as part of their loan shopping process,” said Rob Chrane, president and CEO of Down Payment Resource. As a former Realtor® turned mortgage lender turned entrepreneur, Chrane started DPR to help bridge the gap between these programs and the home buyer.
Missed opportunity
The problem is, few people know his company exists—let alone that there is money out there to help them become homeowners.
“There’s a lot of missed opportunities here,” he said.
Of the 78 million single-family homes and condos in the United States, more than 68 million, or 87%, would qualify for a down payment program, according to the report. Of course, not all of those houses are on the market. The report looked at parcels and matched them with county-, state-, and federal-level assistance programs.” Read the rest…
87% is a huge number. That means there are literally a ton of programs out there for you to explore.
Many people try very hard to save up the down payment amount needed to buy a home, but when you put the cost of kids in the mix, money can get tight.
If you don’t have the 20% down payment funds, a lot of people don’t want to pay PMI, private mortgage insurance, which is required on a conventional loan when less than 20% is put down.
Dan Greene over at The Mortgage Reports says:
“Paying PMI is neither good nor bad, but consumers seem to abhor it.
The purpose of private mortgage insurance is to protect the lender in the event of foreclosure — that’s all it’s for. However, because it costs money, private mortgage insurance gets a bad rap.
It shouldn’t.
Because of private mortgage insurance, home buyers can get mortgage-approved with less than 20 percent to put down and, eventually, private mortgage insurance can get removed.
At the rate at which today’s homes are increasing in value, a buyer putting 3% down would pay PMI for fewer than four years.
That’s not long at all. Yet, many buyers — especially first-timers — will put off a purchase because they want to save a larger downstroke.
Meanwhile, home values are climbing.
For today’s home buyers, making a down payment should be consideration, but it shouldn’t be the only consideration.” Read more…
Folks, we are at historic lows with interest rates.
Also home prices have not yet risen back to 2005 – 2006 prices, but they are climbing.
Our best advice is; do your research on Payment Assistance Programs.
Definitely start saving some money & seek out a trusted mortgage professional who will guide you down the right path for your family.
Next, find a good real estate agent.
Start looking for homes on the areas you want to live.
Agents can set up alerts to email you when a home in your price range and the areas you want to live in, comes on the market.
Once you have your loan preapproved, and down payment system figured out, all that is left is to find your dream home.
I hope this helps you get started.
We are always here to guide you any way we can.
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