Down Payment Assistance–STILL AVAILABLE!

May 5th, 2010 // filed under: Buying a Home, Calvert County, Charles County, First Time Home Buyers, Foreclosures, Jeff Halbert, MD, Mortgages, Prince Georges County, Southern Maryland, St. Mary's

With the Charles County NCI Program now having exhausted its funds in less than 6 months, this is a great time for me to re-introduce a long standing down-payment assistance program available to Maryland First Time Home-buyers, the House Keys 4 Employees Program. Unlike NCI, this program does not limit buyers to purchasing foreclosures within specified zip-codes.

The HK4E is an employer/state-match program that coincides with Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP). The potential buyer can simply qualify for a FHA  loan using the MMP and receive up to $5,000 from their employer and up to a $5,000 match from the State, as long as their employer participates  in the program. These funds can be used for their 3.5% down-payment and closing costs. Not missing the NCI program nearly as much now, are you?

Which Employers Qualify?

Here’s an abbreviated list of some of the employers that participate in the program (a complete list can be found at: http://www.mmprogram.org/hk4eParticipating.aspx):

Anne Arundel County Government
Anne Arundel County Schools
Calvert County Government
Calvert County School System
Charles County Government
Charles County Public Schools
Charles County Sheriff’s Office
Montgomery County
Prince George’s County Government
Prince George’s County Public Schools
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St. Mary’s County Board of Education
St. Mary’s County Fire, Rescue & ALS
St. Mary’s County Government
St. Mary’s County Library
St. Mary’s Hospital
State of Maryland Government

If you work for one of these employers, you can visit your HR department and ask for more information. They will tell you the first step is to be pre-approved by a MMP Lender. I am proud to say the First Home Mortgage is one of the top MMP lenders in the state.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when qualifying for this loan.

  • You have to be a first-time home-buyer (or you cannot have owned a home in the last three years).
  • There is a house-hold income limit (for Charles and Calvert, the limit for a household size of 1-2 is $123,240; St. Mary’s limit is $85,600). For 3 or more persons in the home, the limits are higher.
  • Home-buyer’s education is required for taking this loan. You can call me for a complete list of HUD approved counseling classes in the area.
  • Home-inspection is required for the property and subject to review by the state–therefore strict ‘as-is’ properties will probably not mix well with this loan. Although I’m beginning to find recently that most bank/sellers have been willing to work out any repair issues that the lender may require, as long as they’re reasonable.

On top of this, a qualified borrower can also always take the regular DSELP assistance of $3,500 (available to anyone using the MMP loan). And there’s more! If this particular buyer purchases a home in the county where they work or buys within 10 miles of their work, and if the home is located is a Priority Funding Area (call me for a map of the PFA’s), the buyer can receive an additional $5,000.  This is a piggy-back program called the Smart Keys 4 Employees Program.

Looking at all the assistance available, we have $3,500 DSELP, $5,000 from the Employer, $5,000 HK4E matching funds, and an additional $5,000 SK4E for a grand total of $18,500 for down-payment and closing costs assistance! Just keep in mind that the DSELP, Hk4E, and the SK4E are all 0% deferred loans that need to be paid off once the owner refinances or sells the home.  While it’s not free money, it’s as close to it as possible!

How Do I Take Advantage of This?

As the lending and mortgage landscape continues to constantly evolve, there are still stable programs in place to help out first time home buyers achieve their dream of home-ownership. And in my experience, when one program fades out, it is almost always replaced by another. The key is working with a experienced lender who can match you with the right program. For more information about the MMP program, DSELP, HK4E, and SK4E, visit their website at www.morehouse4less.com. As always, I am here to help answer any and all of our questions. Financing the purchase of your home can be the murkiest part, and my job is to clear the waters for you!

Jeff Halbert, Senior Loan Officer
7701 Greenbelt Road #215
Greenbelt, MD 20770
Office:    (877) 220-0999/ Direct: (240) 965-8135
e-Fax:      (443) 725-0472
Mobile:   (301) 802-1944

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 8:21 am and is filed under Buying a Home, Calvert County, Charles County, First Time Home Buyers, Foreclosures, Jeff Halbert, MD, Mortgages, Prince Georges County, Southern Maryland, St. Mary's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. Tulsa County Bond Money | Real Estate Consultant, Tulsa, OK said at June 6th, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    [...] Down Payment Assistance–STILL AVAILABLE! | Southern Maryland's Real Estate Expert! [...]

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