You might qualify for homebuyer assistance. Yes, you!

If you think homebuyer assistance is for someone else, you could be throwing away money. The truth is that there many different types of assistance to get you in the door of new home. They come from many sources … local housing finance corporations, cities, counties, state agencies, employers, and even the federal government. These programs are designed for buyers with different needs, and the qualifications vary from one program to the next.

Types of assistance

Homebuyer assistance comes in many forms:

Closing-cost or downpayment assistance — financial assistance in the form of a grant or gift to offset some of the closing costs or helps with the required downpayment to get a loan
No-downpayment financing — a loan that does not require a downpayment (also called 100% financing)
Reduced-rate mortgage — a loan that is available at below-market rates, which means lower monthly payments or a larger loan
Relaxed qualifications — loan programs for potential buyers who may have trouble qualifying for a traditional loan due to past credit issues or income under a certain level
Employer/occupation program — special arrangements for buyers who work in a certain industry or for a certain employer
Purchase rehabilitation - funding or loans used to purchase property in need of repair, generally undertaken post-closing.

Where to find these programs

You can find out if you qualify for an assistance program by visiting TxHomePrograms.org, an interactive database of all assistance programs available throughout the state. The site, sponsored by the Texas Association of REALTORS®, is the realization of a nearly five-year old dream.

When you visit TxHomePrograms.org, you can browse all available programs in Texas. Even better, enter information about your specific situation, such as the number of people in your household, your total expected income, the area of the state where you plan to purchase a home, and whether you're a first-time homebuyer. Using these criteria, the site returns any known housing-assistance program for which you may qualify.

What's more, the site offers a guide to the homebuying process, provides a useful real estate dictionary and other tools, and keeps the public aware of real estate-related consumer issues, like predatory lending, the importance of good credit in the homebuying process, and more.

Visit the site … rely on a REALTOR®

Check out TxHomePrograms.org to see if you qualify for a housing-assistance program — you never know what's out there until you look. When you're ready to make a purchase, contact a Texas REALTOR®. Your REALTOR® can assist you with information about assistance programs and other aspects of your real
estate transaction.

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