NeighborhoodLIFT Program Offers DownPayment Assistance

If you spend any time with people who work in housing or real estate, you’ll hear certain ‘catch-phrases’ repeated over and over.  One of the most pervasive phrases heard over the last couple of years is “All Real Estate is Local.”  There’s a lot of truth in that statement… and it’s one of the reasons why the Minnesota Homeownership Center’s Homeownership Advisors Network is so successful at preparing homebuyers for successful homeownership.  

The Homeownership Advisors Network is made up of almost 50 different community-based non-profit, governmental and tribal organizations throughout the state.  The members are fully engaged in housing issues in their local communities and work on finding innovative ways to promote successful homeownership.  Two members of our network, Community Neighborhood Housing Services in St. Paul and Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis, who are also NeighborWorks America affiliates, have partnered with Wells Fargo to bring the NeighborhoodLIFT program to Minnesota.

The NeighborhoodLIFT program is a collaboration between Wells Fargo and NeighborWorks America designed to provide down payment assistance and homebuyer education programs to aid housing recovery in areas that have been heavily impacted by the foreclosure crisis. In Minnesota, this program includes a $9 million investment for down payment assistance grants and homebuyer education and counseling programs to help homebuyers achieve successful, sustainable homeownership in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. 

Minneapolis and St. Paul are two of about two dozen cities throughout the country that will benefit from a total investment of over $170 million that Wells Fargo has committed to the NeighborhoodLift program (also known as CityLIFT in other areas).

The new initiative was announced August 28 at a press conference at a home in North Minneapolis that has recently been remodeled by Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis:

L-R Glennis Ter Wisscha (Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis); Dave Kvamme (Wells Fargo); Jason Peterson (Community Neighborhood Housing Service)
CLICK TO ENLARGE

Recently Remodeled Home in North Minneapolis (Press Conference)
CLICK TO ENLARGE

The program will include a free event for potential homebuyers on Friday and Saturday, September 7th and 8th at the Minneapolis Convention Center, (Hall A) from 10am – 7pm.  At the event, buyers who are interested in purchasing a home in either of the cities can work with a member of the Homeownership Advisors Network and other housing counselors to see if they qualify for any of the down payment grants available through the NeighborhoodLIFT program – up to $15,000 – even if they haven’t yet chosen a home.  There will also be opportunities for buyers to preview featured homes for sale in Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods.  Consumers who would like more information about the homebuyer workshop or to register, visit www.neighborhoodlift.org.


Here’s some additional information about the NeighborhoodLIFT down payment assistance program:

• Grant amount up to $15,000 for down payment assistance for the purchase of a primary, owner-occupied residence in either Minneapolis or St. Paul (surrounding cities are not eligible).
• The grant has a 0% interest rate and is forgivable 20% each year for five years (after the fifth year of continued residence, the entire amount is forgiven).
• Household income cannot exceed 120% Area Median Income
• Purchaser does NOT have to be a first-time buyer
• Homebuyer education is REQUIRED (Home Stretch certificate is accepted if the course was taken prior to 8/28/2012.  After 8/28/2012, the Home Stretch certificate must be issued by either Community NHS or Minneapolis NHS).
• This down payment assistance can be used with OTHER down-payment programs (speak with a Homeownership Advisor at Community NHS or Minneapolis NHS for more details)
• Most importantly: this down payment assistance can be granted REGARDLESS of who you choose to use as your primary lender (you do NOT have to have a first mortgage loan with Wells Fargo to qualify for the assistance).

New Partnership Simplifies Finding Down Payment Help in Minnesota

The Minnesota Homeownership Center is proud to announce a new partnership with Down Payment Resource, the first web-based down payment assistance search tool to help both home buyers and Real Estate professionals seeking down payment and entry-cost assistance programs in Minnesota!

Beginning today,  the Center will offer direct access to Down Payment Resource through our website, and use our local expertise and existing partnerships to ensure the ongoing integrity of Minnesota-specific program information within the service.


REALTORS™ and other real estate professionals: imagine being able to print out a list of all possible down-payment and entry cost assistance programs to use as a handout at your open houses... or in your Buyers' Packets.  You can!  Visit the Center's website for a link to the new tool as well as other tools the Center has that can help YOU as you assist clients on their road to successful and sustainable homeownership.



Here are links to a couple of testimonials of the service... one from the perspective of a homebuyer, and one from the perspective of a REALTOR™ that uses the system to promote her listings and help her clients.


This is not Down Payment Resource's (DPR) first partnership in Minnesota... nearly two years ago, DPR began working with the NorthstarMLS which became the first MLS in the country to offer links to the DPR service. DPR aggregates down payment assistance information into its online platform and integrates that information into the NorthstarMLS (and other MLS systems throughout the country).  The tool helps connect eligible homebuyers and eligible properties with assistance, bridging the down payment gap for homebuyers, as well as moving real estate transactions forward in a difficult lending environment.

Many first-time buyers are unaware that they may qualify for down payment or other assistance programs in Minnesota.  It can be especially challenging to understand the requirements, benefits and application process for multiple programs.  This new partnership combines the Center's focus on sustainable homeownership through education and outreach with the content-rich and easy-to-use online platform from DPR.  Consumers that are looking for additional information about homeownership or any of the assistance programs, are connected to the FREE non-profit counseling services available through the Homeownership Advisors Network directly from the system.

Here's what DPR has to say about the partnership (from our press release): 
“We are thrilled to work alongside partners that share our goal of empowering consumers with information on down payment and closing cost assistance," said Rob Chrane, president of Workforce Resource. "The Minnesota Homeownership Center's leadership in housing, statewide expertise and relationships across Minnesota with affordable housing stakeholders will help increase program awareness across the state."

We're excited to be working with Workforce Resource / DPR too!


Have you used the system (either through the current arrangement with the NorthstarMLS or the new tool)? Let us know in the comments!

FHA Debating Higher Down-Payment Requrement

The Washington Post has a story regarding the fact that FHA is debating increasing the minimum down-payment on FHA Loans (currently as low as 3.5%) as their cash reserves have shrunk due to increases in defaults in the past few years.

One of the lines that caught my attention was from the FHA:

The Federal Housing Administration has concluded that its loan volume would have dipped by 40 percent in the next fiscal year and that 300,000 first-time home buyers would have been shut out of the housing market if it had raised its down payment requirements...

Here are a few questions:

• Would those homeowners truly have been "Shut Out" of the housing market... or would they have been "postponed out" of the housing market for now until they could save the additional amount for down payment?
• Is being "postponed" a bad thing?  Is requiring a higher down payment (10% for borrowers with a FICO score below 580) truly a barrier to homeownership?
• Should efforts be made to get people with 580 credit scores into homes now... or better preparing them (Home Buyer workshops, financial literacy, credit repair, etc.) for FUTURE homeownership?

Just some thoughts.

I love saying this... but Minnesota is UNIQUE.  Thanks to the efforts of the MN Home Ownership Center and our partners, we are the only State that has a complete matrix of available down payment and entry cost assistance programs.  The Center's Entry Cost Assistance Matrix is available here.

If you're thinking about purchasing your first home... and are wondering about down payment requirements or any of the other steps involved in becoming a SUCCESSFUL homeowner... visit the Center's website here.