can someone please explain what these are... i cant seem to get a straight answer anywhere...

the reason i am asking is i just enrolled in a special program to help me buy a home in 2 years... its really nice... their are short classes that meet once a week that i am required to attend... i am required to save $38.50 every two weeks for 2 years... = $2000 and they will as much as double it...= $4000 so that might total $6000... its sponsered by a local nonprofit.. but i think it might be funded with federal dollars or maybe state...

its for poor folks... but i really am looking forward to owning something... my mom spent 20 years renting and has nothing to show for it... even though she probably spent close to $50,000 she doesnt have anything... it makes me sad...

I have never heard of this, and gather it is for low income, maybe a new Obama program. This sounds great for you, keep at it, and the best of luck, nothing better than owing your own.

Hello Cool - I don't know about that program but I'm not sure what your question is. Do you have any literature from the program that gives you a name of the organization, a phone number, or a web address? Without some kind of contact information, you won't be able to find out anything. Can you get some contact information?

It is extremely important to understand the source of this program. Let's hope it is not a scam. What happens to the $38.50 you save every two weeks? You're not giving it to them, are you? OMG, no! It is a BIG RED FLAG that you don't understand exactly what is going on here. Please do not give anybody your $38.50 every two weeks. This should go into your bank account, with only you having access. Watch out for a scam. You may be looking at a perfectly legitimate enterprise here, but I see potential for losing your money. You are smart to want to know more, and to investigate this thoroughly. Please keep us posted on your progress finding out about this program, and who is behind it.

If you get a sturdy house at a reasonable price, it can be a good thing for you. Even after your home is eventually paid off, you will continue to have housing expenses including taxes, utilities, and upkeep. My experience has been these expenses are less than 1/4 the cost of renting a comparable property. Paid up housing can be the cheapest way to live.

One thing you can do that will help you immensely on total cost is to pay extra each payment to be taken off the END of the note. Money paid to be applied to the END of the note does not mean you are paid ahead, but it does reduce the interest charges over the life of the note because it is applied to principal only. When you start out paying for the house, almost 100% of what you are paying is going toward interest and your loan is not reduced much. The key is to pay extra on the END of the note and that money will really reduce the length of years of your payments. You have to specify when you make these extra payments that they are for the END of the note. Ask about this in your classes.

Closing costs vary, depending on where you live and who you're buying from. Closing is when the property is conveyed to the buyer. Closing costs can include attorney fees, the broker's fee, property taxes, and inspection fees. The amount of closing costs vary with each property, but I would think the classes that you will be taking will help explain. Some lenders will include the amount of closing costs into the mortgage. Others will not, in which case the buyer is required to bring the money to closing.

Congrats! Owning a home is an....adventure? From what I remember (and I did this 3 years ago and don't want to re-live it anytime soon) Closing costs are tricky. The lender should be able to give you an estimate on what they will be once you place an offer. I was able to put $5,000 of closing costs into the mortgage. I still had to bring a check for $6,000. And I'm pretty sure that figure included the down payment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2011 04:52PM by Krissyg.

mary no the account is my own set up at my own bank... there are just limitations to accessing it and i can only use it to buy a house... if i need to make a withdrawl for emergency purposes i have to talk with the non profit first... trust me i wouldnt give money to anyone...

Cooldude, when you buy a home you need to have a 'downpayment', 'closing costs' and 'insurance'. I'm sure they will go through these in your class. The requirements vary from area to area. Who pays what parts of the closing costs is also a matter of local traditions and is generally negotiable. When I purchased my current home the closing costs included a title search (paid by the seller to prove they had good title), title insurance (paid by me to insure my ownership rights to the property I thought I was purchasing going forward), document stamps (paid by the me to both record the title showing me as the new owner with the state and by the seller to record the mortgage as an official document), property taxes (in our state they are paid towards the end of the year for the year that is just ending, so the seller gave me the estimate of taxes he should have paid from Jan 1 through the day I took over the house and I was responsible for actually paying them at the end of the year) and then there were a lot of miscellaneous costs such as an independent third party appraisal of the value of the home, costs of fed-exing documents back and forth, document preparation, commission to the Realtor, etc. etc. Some of those miscellaneous costs were mine, some were the seller's. In my market a home inspection was not required but I certainly would not purchase a home without one, and that was at my cost, paid for prior to going forward with the purchase. (Based on the home inspection we knocked an additional $15,000 off the price of the house because of repairs that were needed, and indeed a week after we took possession of the property the roofers were here because the old roof sprang leaks in a storm the day after we moved in.)

Home ownership is not cheap. I routinely budget 10% of the value of the house per year for 'home repair'. That means that a $100,000 home is likely to cost me $10,000 this year to repair and maintain. This year my $10,000 has laid out $1500 to have the flat roofs over my porches repaired (a flat '20 year roof' will last about 8 years and mine had been stretched to 14 years because I hauled up half buckets of roof coat to reseal them myself in 2004 when a hurricane made roofers unavailable in my area for small jobs). I am on a well system and just paid $3000 to have new equipment and piping installed because my old system was about 10 years old. We burn out a pump about every 3-4 years, and those I can readily replace myself for around $200 for a decent pump. My lawn tractor just had the throttle break, so that will need to go for repair instead of using a screwdriver to manipulate it, I bought a $200 lift so that I can change the blades on the lawn tractor without having to spend the day dropping and reinstalling an ornery mower deck, I put a new chain on the chain saw to cut branches that were approaching hanging over the house and new blades on the lawn tractor (and sent the old ones out for resharpening), I recently bought a shovel (on a shop) to replace one where the handle broke and the old shovel blade was not worth replacing the handle again, and this is before we even talk about plantings, fertilizers, pest control, etc.

Would I become a renter again? Heck no! Would I purchase a $500,000 house if I couldn't afford to set $50,000 aside per year to maintain it? Heck no! The reality is that my 10% for home repair/maintenance/improvement is rarely all spent because I am pretty handy. I know how to replace flooring, faucets and other plumbing, do minor to moderate electrical repair, repaint a home inside and out, clean gutters and repair them, maintain lawn and garden, erect and maintain fences, replace screens etc. I won't tackle stuff beyond my comfort zone, but my comfort zone is pretty broad.

I have owned rental property and know that those who are not handy do need a landlord to take care of them. When you become a homeowner, learn how to fix things yourself wherever possible. Most home maintenance is a matter of dealing with a mechanical puzzle, whether you are replacing door handles/locks, the fill valve of the toilet or replacing a faucet. There is lots and lots of help on the internet, often with photos of the steps, that make it look simple, though know there will always be one nut or one angle that makes your task uniquely a PITA.

I am thinking this is a program for homes in foreclosure. Banks are giving them away and this would be a great incentive for first time buyers. I wouldn't worry about closing costs at this time, one step at a time. Escrow and your Mortgage Bank will let you know, everything at this point is speculation. The small amount you need to put away, is nothing, do it for yourself and your Mom. Do more jobs, and keep us posted when escrow closes...

wow... sounds like lots of work... well i think i am prepared for it... and if not there are safty nets... a bill was passed to lenghen delays in paying mortgages from 3 months to 1 year due to loss of job... and i am in the medical field for my job and i have had for what will be 2 years at the end of the month... so i think i am pretty steady going...

no irene its just for low income home buyers, what they buy as long as it is a home is fine... i would love to buy a foreclosure but i wouldnt know about doing it... i paid $1 for a trial membership into a program that advertised foreclosed homes... but the numbers and addresses were either non existant or not available anymore... that was a waste of 2 hours..

i will be sure to keep you guys posted on this though

the program is through Greater Erie Action Committee www.gecac.org

There are a couple of issues with foreclosures. Many folks are really bummed to be losing their home and in many cases around here they have removed anything they could before being evicted. In one home I did 'house sitting' for auction, that included removing sinks, faucets, toilets, kitchen cabinets and counters, carpets, the electrical panel and light fixtures. All of those things would be pretty darn expensive to have to have someone come in and replace for you. In this area, foreclosed houses are empty for a year or more before they ever go on the market for sale, and during that time generally the air conditioning is stolen and some thieves are going into the empty houses to strip the copper pipes out of the walls. Routine maintenance on these places has also not been done for at least a year, sometimes for much longer. A confirmed do-it-yourself person could probably set the house to rights, but just the cost of materials would be substantial.

My first home was a 'fixer upper' because that was what we could afford. Nights and weekends were spent working on the house for almost a year. It was not what either of us WANTED to do with our time, but it was what we HAD to do to turn the place into a home. When I sold that and bought a home in another state, it was delightful to move into a house where my main concern was where to place the furniture. My current home was a 'distressed property' mostly because the former owner was a heavy indoor smoker. Before moving in we sealed all the walls and painted them, used special stuff on the carpets and then had them professionally cleaned, threw out most of the window coverings. It took about 10 days of nights and weekends before we were ready to move in. During that time the roofers put on a metal roof, so I will never have to reroof the main portion of the home again, only the flat porch roofs. That to me was about the right amount of work for the lowered price.

hmm... after doing research... looks like i dont need to buy a foreclosure... currently in the erie PA city area there are only more than 500 houses between 20k and 40k

both are fully in my price range due to the fact that my current 401k is being matched dollar for dollar and has been growing at a rate of 6% a quarter..

but then again who knows... this is all two years down the road...

As a former real estate agent, I know of such programs, mostly run by nonprofit organizations. I'm afraid I do not remember the names of the organizations but would recognize them if you stated the name, I think. One might be the Neamiah (sic) program.

the program is through Greater Erie Action Committee www.gecac.org

I'm certainly rooting for you cooldude! There is a wonderful sense to deciding you want to make changes to your living environment and not having to consult the building owner to see if you can paint, change flooring, put in faucets you love, etc. There is also that sense that you are investing in your own future when you do those things or muck out a garden or plant flowering or fruiting trees you know you will be around to enjoy for years to come.

I'm a Realtor here in Southern Cal, and there is a new program here called the "WISH" program. It's for 1st time buyers only. Here it is in a nutshell:

3:1 Match on homebuyer contributions
Maximum contribution: $15,000
Example: Buyer contributes $3,000 to transaction, WISH will contribute $9,000 to use towards down payment or closing costs.

I haven't done one yet, but this sounds promising for those first time buyers!

wow... thats awesome... i guess people want to get homes off the market... if i could get a 15K match i could have a choice of buying probably 300 homes in the area here... no mortgage that would be nice... but its a lot cheaper here than it is in cali... and we can water our lawns.. lol