With down payments and closing costs providing last-step obstacles for many new homebuyers, new programs are being included in the loan packages of buying a home to assist buyers in achieving the American dream.
Countrywide Financial Corporation has taken it a step further with monies that don’t have to be repaid.
At the recent 2006 Merge Black Expo, they announced up to $5 million in grants to cover down payments and closing costs for customers in their low-income range.
“The common barrier for someone to own their own home has always been money,” Bridges Stewart, Countrywide Vice President, National Multicultural Sales Division, said at the Black Expo. “With our providing 100 percent financing, we are taking away that barrier. Currently, this program is available only to our clients in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
The grants will be made through Countrywide Bank. Depending on a family’s income and qualifications, they can receive grants in between $1.5 thousand to $3 thousand.
The program applies to mostly to new homebuyers, however, smaller grants are also available to customers refinancing their home loans.
“This new closing cost assistance program gives funds to low- to moderate-income home buyers and homeowners and residents in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods,” said Jim Furash, president and CEO, Countrywide Bank.
For those is Dallas county, along with Collin, Delta, Denton, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman and Ellis counties, families with annual incomes of $32 thousand or less are considered low income; from $32 thousand to $52 thousand, they are considered moderate income. Countrywide’s program has also arranged for grants to be used to buy down the interest rates on their loans.
“You might be able to use these monies to get a better rate than what you previously had,” said Stewart, who used an example of a 6 percent loan being lowered to 5 percent.
Countrywide was one of the main sponsors for the second annual Merge Black Expo. In 2005, they ranked No. 1 in lending to minorities, according to reports under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
“Our real focus is to reach out to the African American community,” Stewart stated.
Other institutions also offering down payment and closing costs assistance include the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through their American Dream Down Payment Initiative. The Enterprise Foundation also has a Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP).“What we are doing is providing a subsidy to qualifying first-time buyers who purchase a home in the city of Dallas,” Lorenzo Littles, Dallas director for The Enterprise Foundation, told Realtor Magazine.
For more information on Countrywide’s grant program, call 1-800-747-1871.