Housing Grants
 

We saw the bank today about getting a home loan. We found out what we'd need for a down payment and know it would take us a while to get it. We'd need about $1,500-$3,000 in down payment. The loan officer told us that there are a number of grants out there to help with down payments. Some are government grants. Some work in such a way that the seller has to "donate" the same amount to the government fund and sometimes sellers will figure that into the selling price so that they aren't really out that amount. I think that would be ok with us since even though we'd be paying interest we'd still be putting equity into the home. Just as long as the selling price wasn't more than the value of the home.

What I'm asking here is if any of you know about grants or where to start to find out about them. I intend to do some researching on the internet too but I thought I'd get the question out there and see what you all could come up with too. Kindof cover all the bases. Any tips?

Start your search at Fannie Mae they specialize in first time home buyers - -any info you need - -will pretty much be there would be my guess.

Thanks. It looks like the programs which Fannie Mae work with are much like the loan that we have already looked into at our local M&I. We only have to pay 3% down payment which is quite small, and the interest rate is only 6% right now. What we need is the money for our down payment. I'm looking for federal grant programs. Most of what I keep finding are sites where you have to pay for the information about federal grants. I'm sure I can find that information out myself. I don't want to pay someone else for research that I can do myself. ;) Or with you all's help.

We recently bought our first home. Our mortgage broker set us up with a home loan from Us Bank. It was a first time homebuyer program with $0 down. And without any mortgage insurance. The interest rate was 5.83.
The only costs we had to pay for was the closing costs and the home owner's insurance.