Special down payment assistance of $15,000 is available to first-time home buyers and military veterans in five North Carolina counties under a limited-time program offered by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency using funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund.
Eligible buyers in Cabarrus, Cumberland, Guilford, Johnston and Mecklenburg counties can receive the help in the form of a five-year, deferred second mortgage loan. The down payment loans are combined with the Agency’s NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ and are forgiven at a rate of 20 percent per year for each full year the owner stays in the house, with no repayment due after five years.
The N.C. Housing Finance Agency, a self-supporting public agency, is offering the down payment help to boost home buying in areas that were hard-hit during the recession. The five counties were selected based on a defined set of distressed housing market indicators and other criteria approved in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
“Helping people to purchase homes and invest in distressed neighborhoods is an integral step in helping communities to recover from economic setbacks,” said A. Robert Kucab, executive director of the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. “This program is designed to stabilize home prices in hard hit neighborhoods but it also helps individuals and families who are ready to buy but need a boost getting into their first home.”
First-time home buyers and military veterans are eligible for the assistance if their annual household incomes meet certain limits, they have a credit score of 640 or higher and they are purchasing a previously owned home with a sales price up to $245,000. Qualified applicants must complete an in-person or online home buyer education course.
Funding is available to assist approximately 3,000 buyers. To learn more, consumers should go to www.nchfa.com/home-buyers to find a participating lender in their county or call 1-800-393-0988.
The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, a self-supporting public agency, has helped more than 95,000 home buyers purchase homes since its inception in 1974.
