About Government Refinance and Home Purchase Programs

Spring officially begins in March and the spring season is traditionally a time when more families begin listing their homes for sale. The better weather along with the approaching end of the school year makes springtime a popular time for families to list a home for sale. That means spring is the best time of the year to find homes for sale all across America.

If you have considered purchasing a home, contact us in the form on our home purchase page right away. We can help point you in the right direction regarding the available government home purchase programs. With any luck you could get pre-qualified for a mortgage and start your house hunting process right away.

Can you buy a home with no money down in 2014? The simple answer is, yes. However there are caveats.

See our Home Purchase page here for an overview of the various government home purchase programs. The two main ways to buy a home with no money down in 2014 are:

1) Utilize the VA mortgage program
2) Go with the USDA rural housing program

In order to get a VA loan you have to be a military veteran with VA eligibility. The rural housing program is available to anyone, but you have to be willing to by a home that somewhat removed from the city. (See here for the USDA’s map of eligible areas).

Most everyone else will need to have a down payment of at leat 3.5% of the purchase price to qualify for an FHA loan and 5% for a conventional loan. The FHA allows that 3.5% to be a gift from family or friends but with conventional loan the 5% needs to be your own savings.

So while there are some good no money down programs available, those programs aren’t for everyone. In many cases at least a small down payment will still be necessary.

If you are interested in buying a home contact us in the form on this page today to learn more or to get help pre-qualifying.

There was an interesting segment that aired on Yahoo Finance recently. The basic point was that there are many Americans who have never refinanced at all and as a result are paying too much in interest on their mortgages. If you know someone who has never refinanced or who has an interest rate that is too high have them contact us right away to see if they are wasting money on a mortgage that it too expensive.

Here is that clip:

While there are some government programs the allow for zero money down on home purchases, those programs don’t work for everyone. As a result, most home buyers need at least a 3.5% down payment to purchase a home. This time of year it is common for families to use a tax refund as part of their their down payment funds. The timing of tax refund checks aligns nicely with the start of spring, when there is traditionally an increase of homes being put up for sale.

See our home purchase page for more information on the various government-backed home purchase programs. If you have been worried about not having enough of a down payment to qualify for a home purchase, this is a good time of year to get qualified as tax refunds come in. Contact us on that home purchase page to learn more.