First Time Home Buyers
As lenders tighten mortgage guidelines for Indianapolis home buyers, minimum downpayment requirements are increasing. Several years ago, you could finance a home with nothing down. Today, most conventional mortgages require at least 10 percent. Anecdotally, guideline changes have led to an increase in the number of home buyers accepting cash gifts from family. Gifts are allowed in most cases but the problem is, if you don’t accept the gift in a “lender-friendly” way, the mortgage underwriter could reject it, and negate it. You can’t just deposit a cash gift into your bank account. You have to follow a series of steps...
INDIANA HOUSING DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM If you are a first time home buyer in Indianapolis, you should know your financing options. The Indiana Housing Program for first time home buyers who are creditworthy, but may not have the initial upfront costs for down payment and closing costs is a great option. I received this information from one of my lenders with the guidelines for the Indiana Housing Down Payment Assistance Program. The general guidelines are as follows: 1.First time buyers or someone who has not been entitled to real estate in the past 3 yrs. 2.Indiana Housing will provide...
In Pursuit of a Winning Bid For the last eight months I have been working with a first time home buyer in the $80,000 price range. Based on her criteria, the area she wanted to live and price of the average home in the area, we knew it wouldn’t be an easy search. Not difficult, just not easy! Still, we were able to find homes she liked and made a few offers. One HUD owned home we lost by about $250.00. A couple of bank owned homes needed too much work; a few short sale homes we never received an...
HUD Homes are a Good Value HUD homes in Indianapolis generally represent a great value for the home buyer’s. Since the inception of the $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers, HUD owned homes have literally been “flying off the MLS active list”, with many being sold in the first ten days. As we near the end of the time frame for first time home buyers to receive the tax credit, REALTORS® in Indianapolis are witnessing a surge in activity and prices of HUD homes. Why the sudden interest in HUD homes? Although HUD doesn’t go in and repair...
Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) announced a much anticipated drop in their rates. Okay, it may only be me who was anticipating it; somehow, I think not. In October, Indiana Housing rates started moving up and have remained at 7.25% since October 28th. Starting today, the rates have dropped to 6.25%. Although the rate is a bit higher than the current FHA rate, Indiana Housing allows down payment assistance for first time home buyers in Indiana. The First Home Plus program provides up to 5% down payment assistance, capped at $3500.00, as a interest free loan. It’s not...
Today is July 1, 2008 and the interest rate on Indiana Housing loans goes up. This is twice in the last month. Effective today, the rate for a loan form Indiana Housing is 6.125%. Buyers can still complete the online course and receive a .125% discount on the interest rate. The Indiana Housing program is great for first time home buyers. Check here for more information about Indiana Housing guidelines....
