There's a way to buy a home for half the list price and with a down payment as low as $100. This isn't a myth. For people who work in community-based jobs, the federal Good Neighbor Next Door program makes this kind of home-buying scenario possible. The program may not have any homes, or only a few, for sale in your state. What do you need to know about the program and other options if you need help buying a house? This is what you should know about the program.
How to Own a Good Neighbor Next Door house
The apartments that can be bought are abandoned homes, which were funded by FHA borrowers that are covered by insurance by the Federal Housing Administration. These mortgages were backed by the government. After a house is foreclosed on, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as HUD, owns the house and puts it up for sale.
All of the Good Neighbor Next Door homes are in neighborhoods that have been identified as "urban renewal regions" to help more people buy houses. Across the country, HUD partnered with community authorities to develop settings that have low median household income, high foreclosure rates, and low homeownership rates into areas that need to be changed. There are a lot of places that have been revitalized. Still, the number of homes available for the federal Good Neighbor Next Door program is minimal.
Who can be a Good Neighbor Next Door?
Police officers, firefighters, teachers, or EMTs who work full time for a school, agency, or department that serves the area where the home is located may be able to apply. You and your partner can't have bought a Good Neighbor Next Door residence earlier, and you can't have owned a home in the last year.
Other Things Need to Be Done
- Certify that you will keep working as a law enforcement officer, teacher, firefighter, or EMT for a year after you buy a house.
- For three years, agree to own and live in the home as your only home, and every year, show that you're living there. In the mail, HUD sends a diploma yearly. The house owner indicates and sends it back to HUD.
You Can Purchase A Home With A Good Neighbor Next Door
HUD Homestore is where you can look for homes part of the Good Neighbor Next Door program and sale. There is a link called "Good Neighbor Next Door" to the left of the map. Then click on a dark blue state to see what homes are available there. Light blue conditions don't have any homes for sale through the program at the moment, but that could change. To get more information about a home, click on its case number to see photos and other information. This information includes square footage, the number of rooms, and when the home was built.
The number of homes for sale changes every week and the houses are sold "as it is." To buy a home, you'll have to act quickly. You have just seven days to make a bid. Getting help from a real estate agent who works for the government will help you do this. HUD Homestore has a tool to help you find one in your area. The broker sends in the bid electronically for the total list price. Then, HUD will apply the 50% discount to it. If more than one person makes an offer, the buyer is chosen by chance.
Good Neighbor Next Door Loans
You may utilize any home loan to purchase a Good Neighbor Next Door home, as hard as you fulfill the bank's demands. An FHA mortgage, on the other hand, has some extra benefits: It doesn't need a lot of money to start, and the closing costs can be paid for. Most of the time, the lowest closing cost for an FHA credit is 3.5%. It's also possible to get a restoration loan, like an FHA 203(k) loan that adds the price of necessary repairs to the mortgage.
Make sure you have enough money to buy any house by getting a pre-approval letter from a lender. You get a preapproval from a lender when they say they'll loan you a certain amount at a specific rate. When you make an offer, you'll want to have that preapproval in your back pocket to back you up. The loan from a lender pays 50% of the home's list price. A second mortgage through HUD pays for the other half of the cost. People who buy a home don't have to pay back the second mortgage if they meet the program's rules. People who buy a house have to pay a second mortgage for three years before getting it off of them.
