Down Payment Assistance Programs
A down payment assistance program provides a specific amount of money to a borrower that can be used for a down payment and/or closing costs.
A new Community Lending Program is providing up to $6,000 in grant money for first time buyers to use for down payment and/or closing costs. This is grant money or a lender credit, not a loan. The funds do not need to be repaid.
There is one big caveat: The buyer must be buying in a designated LMI (low- to moderate-income) census tract. More on that below.
Additional guidelines:
- This is only for the purchase of a primary residence.
- 1-unit, single family residences are allowed. Condos are allowed. No manufactured homes. No multi-unit properties.
- Occupant borrowers may not own any other financed 1-4 family properties at the time of loan closing.
- At least one occupying borrower must be a first time homebuyer (defined as someone who hasn't owned a home in the previous three years).
- 3-5% down payment required depending on credit score and area median income.
- Conventional and conventional high balance transactions only. Government (VA, FHA, USDA) loans are not eligible.
- Property must be in an eligible census tract.
So which census tracts are eligible in the greater Puget Sound region?
Mount Vernon: 9523.01 and 9524.04
Des Moines: 0989.02, 0290.04, 0300.05, and 0300.07
Auburn: 0308.01
Rainier, Renton, and Tukwila: 0118.02, 0260.03, 0281.00
Lakewood: 0717.03, 0717.04, and 0718.06
Additional census tracts are eligible in Grant County, Okanogan County, Kennewick-Richland, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and Yakima.
Not sure if your property is eligible? Enter the address here: https://geomap.ffiec.gov/ffiecgeomap/ and check for the Tract Code in the graph on the left side of the page.
Contact me to learn more or to find out if your buyer (and your property) are eligible.
