Wherever you look in the real estate market we are told that this is the worst market and there are no opportunities; it does not make for a great bed time story. Last week on WATD, we spoke to Beth Murphy, from Eastern Bank, about the opportunities that are available to homebuyers in the South Shore. Beth’s take on this economy is that there are many opportunities but a lot of the opportunities on this market are with public agencies that cannot advertise. The house prices and rates are low and there are no more bad loans so consumers can feel protected but beyond that are the various loans and grant opportunities that homebuyers can take advantage of.
Loans and grants available for homebuyers in Massachusetts
Mass Housing: They allow you to put 3% down as a down payment and there are also local housing grants that will give you a grant to use as a down payment so you don’t have to put anything down. They help you with closing costs. Mass housing also works with homeowners so they can help you refinance if you need to.
Mass Housing has PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance which protects the lender any time someone puts less than 20% down on a house) which is less than FHA and the PMI has an insurance component to it that will cover a borrower if they become unemployed; they will pay the mortgage for 6 months. They also have a rehab program in place.
Mass Housing Partnership (MHP): this is for low income borrowers who make 80% or less of the area’s median income, they have a low down payment (3%), a low interest rate which is usually 0.25% or 0.5% below market rate and have no points or PMI and even have a subsidy available for qualified homebuyers.
FHA: The FHA is not particular to Massachusetts but it is still a great loan and worth considering because it is a little flexible about credit scores (anywhere from a 620 to a 640) and the amount of debt that you are carrying. It does require a 3% down payment but that can be a gift from a relative so it’s not that bad. If you are worried about your ability to make payments the FHA will allow you to have a co-signor, a characteristic that is unique to the FHA. They also have a 203k program which is a rehab loan for homeowners that are looking to fix their homes or for homebuyers that are looking to buy a home that needs some fixing up. There are guidelines in place but if you there are certain things that you need done to the house like painting a wall or replacing a septic system it can be very useful and you can get half the money upfront and half the money afterwards.
Housing Grants: In addition to loans for homebuyers, there are grant opportunities available to homebuyers; for more information you can go to Chapa.org. For homebuyers in the South Shore there are various services such as Marshfield Housing, South Shore Housing and Quincy Neighborhood Housing Services that work with homebuyers looking for grant opportunities in the South Shore and they also help homeowners that are looking to refinance.
We would love to hear of any other great financing and funding opportunities that we may have forgotten or missed are available for homebuyers in the South Shore or Massachusetts. Please share your insights in the comment section below.
Image by Flickr user: jspatchwork
