How housing finance agencies and credit unions help first-time buyers

Are you a first-time homebuyer and searching for a suitable mortgage loan that you can afford? There are several financial institutions that offer mortgage loans for first-time homebuyers. If you’re looking for such a financial institution/mortgage company for first-time homebuyers, then you can contact the following organizations.

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency

The Minnesota Housing Agency offers the following mortgage programs for first-time homebuyers.

* Community Activity-Set Aside Program (CASA) – This program helps moderate income first-time homebuyers in Minnesota to own a property. This loan program offers low, affordable, fixed interest mortgages. However, a pre-purchase homebuyer education is must in order to take out a CASA loan. In order to qualify for such a loan, your income should be less than the prescribed Minnesota Housing income limits and you should purchase a qualifying home that is, a property within the geographic service area of a CASA Community initiative.

* Minnesota Mortgage Program (MMP) – This mortgage loan program helps low to moderate income group people to own a property in Minnesota. However, to qualify for such loans, you should be a first-time homebuyer, have federal income tax returns for the past 3 years and you should earn lower than the income limits prescribed by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.

NASA Federal Credit Union

You can contact NASA Federal Credit Union if you’re searching for a financial institution or a mortgage company for first-time homebuyers. This program helps a homebuyer who can’t afford a large down payment and closing costs and who want to make low monthly payments for the initial period of the mortgage loan.  You need to make a 3.5% down payment and the qualifying factors are much more relaxed than traditional mortgages. You can take out such a loan for purchasing planned unit developments, single family residences or condominiums.

NASA Federal also offers FHA loans (insured by the Federal Housing Administration) up to $417,000. One of its major benefits is that you need to make as little as 3.5% down payment on a home. Apart from this, you can refinance the property up to 97.75% of its appraised value. This is a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with expanded qualifying criteria.

There are several other housing finance agencies (such as, California Housing Finance Agency, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, etc.) that offer mortgage loans for first-time homebuyers.

For further information on first-time homebuyer incentive and loan programs, you can refer to http://www.first-time-homebuyers-loans.com/loan/incentive-programs.html

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, then you can claim  a federal tax credit of up to 10% of your home purchase price. This amounts to a maximum of $8000 (for an individual buyer) if you sign a purchase agreement before April 30, 2010 and close on the property on or before July 30, 2010.

If you are a senior homeowner, needing access to the equity you have accumulated in your home after years of monthly mortgage payments, then reverse mortgage may be a popular alternative for you. You can use it to reverse your monthly cash flow. Since it is a non-recourse loan, the amount owed will never be more than your house is worth at the time your home is sold by you or your estate.