100% financing has become harder to find but there are still a few options available in Oregon. One is, of course, Federal VA but this is open only to veterans and active duty military personnel. A fantastic opportunity to purchase a home for someone that qualifies.
Next would be a FHA loan with some sort of down payment assistance program, of which the only ones currently available are SHOP, HAP and PAL. Unfortunately, HAP and PAL are currently out of money according to recent reports. (Please see previous postings for what these are.)
That brings me to the USDA Rural Guaranteed Housing Program. Not only is this program available to 100% financing, you can actually finance the closing costs in the loan if the appraisal is higher than the purchase price and will go to 102% if the financing fee is included in the loan amount.
Other benefits of this program are:
•· No Mortgage Insurance. 2% funding fee only.
•· Local processing
•· Conventional underwriting
•· Moderate income to qualify. OR County Income Guidelines
•· Much of the state qualifies. OR ineligible areas
•· No maximum loan amount
•· Seller can contribute to closing costs
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) doesn't make the loans for this program; they offer a guarantee of the loan so that lenders are more secure in the lending. USDA will sign off on the loan after underwriting is complete from the lender, so there is a slightly longer processing time. Pricing is comparable with FHA rates.
Areas of Lane County that qualify for these loans are: Cottage Grove, Creswell, Veneta, Junction City, Oakridge, Florence and many others outside the urban grown boundary of Eugene/Springfield. There is a specific address database on the website that will determine if a property qualifies.
The income qualification for the guaranteed program is quit liberal updated regularly.
This is a great program, now we need to find the folks who can take advantage of it. Linn county also has many cities that can use this loan. Thanks for the info
Absolutely Leslie. Every county in Oregon (except for Portland area) has areas that qualify for this program.
Thanks for the info Fred. I will have to find out what kinds of programs are available in Idaho.
Pam, the same program is available in most of Idaho, except in and around the bigger cities, like Boise and Idaho Falls.
Check the like and go to Idaho to find out where. Take care.
Fred - we are closing a TON of these loans this month! When you combnie these 100% loans (with no PMI) to the $7500 tax credit the guys in Washington are handing out for first timers - it's REALLY a no brainer!
Good morning Fred, I have worked with 4 first time homebuyers over the last 6 months. They all got FHA loans, and 2 of them got down payment assistance. They were tickled with the great packages that they got! i wonder how much longer some of those programs will stay around. Take care of yourself!
Fred - this is a great program for quailified borrowers. An agent I know has an assumable USDA loan on a listing they have, which we don't see many of!
Eleanor - You are right, it is an excellent program and the income limitations are really very liberal.
Sandy - Do you have areas there that will qualify for the rural program?
Karen - I don't think I have ever seen an assumable USDA loan.
I'm offering this on one of my properties in North Plains and I couldn't believe the amount of calls I've gotten because of it!
Todd - One of the things that politicians don't understand is that we still have buyers that want houses but they just can't put together the down payment. This program helps but we need something in the cities, like the DPA. Thanks for the comment.
It is great to hear about different loan options for people. Based on the ineligible cities list you really don't need to be too terribly far out to qualify!
You are right Angela. The qualifing area is very much open in Oregon.