Skip to main content

Home Buyers Assistance for Iraq/Afghanistan War Vets

There are a lot of great ways for real estate agents and mortgage lenders to add value to the service they give their clients. Certainly knowing ways to save clients money are always helpful.  Knowing the lenders and loan programs that do so help too.  These are, of course, the same reasons it makes sense for Buyers & Sellers to work with the best professionals they can find for their real estate deals too..

Here is a good one: First Advantage Mortgage has a new program benefiting members of the armed forces who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Qualifying borrowers are eligible to receive $10,000 in assistance towards the purchase price and/or closing costs on their next home. (Hat tip Bob Brandle)

These funds are available to all veterans using conventional, FHA and VA financing. Buyers on active duty or in the reserves are only eligible for first time home purchases.

The $10,000 grants are actually second mortgages (so do understand that there may be some additional closing costs too), but - as is typical of targeted programs of this sort - the loan is forgivable over a period of time. In this case, the loan need not be repaid if the borrower owns the home for more than two years and who are not otherwise in default on their mortgages.

Don't forget that Vets are also eligible for a Returning Veterans' Homestead Exemption - providing qualifying Veterans a one-time $5,000 reduction to their home's equalized assessed value (EAV)  upon their return home, and a Disabled Veterans' Standard Homestead Exemption that provides a reduction in a property's EAV to qualifying property owned by Veterans with service-connected disabilities as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs.  

Do YOU know of any other home buyer assistance for military personnel?  (other targeted loan assistance programs?) If you do, please let me know.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

PLM Title Shuttered

Title insurance is a critically important part of any real estate transaction; or at least it should be. The title company guaranties the "quality" of an owners interest in the property - that there aren't any (unknown) liens or defects. No buyer that I work for will purchase a property without it. Title insurance is only as good as the insurer. We want to know that the insurance company, like the Rock of Gibraltar , will always be there. We want to sleep easy at night, knowing that the client is protected. That said, it was a bit distressing to see that PLM Title Company shut its doors, without any forewarning last week. Worse still, this morning's news is that there is a criminal investigation underway - and that we do not yet know why. Old timers like me shudder with memories of the great Intercounty Title debacle five years ago. Here's to hoping that this one is nothing like that one. Set aside the problems involved trying to make a claim against a defun...
6 comments
Read more

FHA Loans and Condo Sales - Is Relief on the Way?

By all outward appearances, state government in Illinois has ground to a complete halt, with all eyes focused on the Governor's "problem" and all the related fal - der -rah. Its hardly business as usual in Springfield, but not everything has ground to a halt. Several new bills have been introduced this week. That is not to say that they will be of benefit to we the people. Nonetheless, the cogs and gears are turning, and we are hoping for the best. One such proposal comes from Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago's west side, who is himself a real estate broker and entrepreneur . He is the author of House Bill 155 , introduced & referred to the Rules Committee Wednesday. It seeks to address one of the most common problems I am seeing in condominium resale transactions these days; the tension between many Declarations of Condominium and FHA loan guidelines. Many Condo Declarations provide Associations with a "right of first refusal," which basically allows t...
3 comments
Read more

MAYOR DALEY PROPOSES TIF FINANCING FOR SOME DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

Lets see how City Council reacts on this one, but the Mayor introduced a pretty interesting little ordinance that might be a real boon to first time area home buyers willing to buy and rehabilitate some bank-owned properties. Progress Illinois reports that the mayor's bill, introduced on March 9: "seeks to tackle the growing problem of vacant homes that are blighting neighborhoods across Chicago, and in particular in minority communities. Called the Vacant Building TIF Purchase and Rehabilitation Ordinance, the  bill  (PDF) proposes allowing residents with a household income no greater than 100 percent of the regional median income to apply for a tax increment financing (TIF) grant that would pay for up to 25 percent of the cost of purchasing and rehabilitating an empty residential property. Single-family empty homes or units in condo and cooperative buildings with four units or fewer are eligible. The empty homes must be located in a TIF district and must be in need of...
Post a Comment
Read more