Dan Hubrich of Mountain View Mortgage is back today to talk about home buyer grants and down payment assistance programs.

This month I’d like to talk about home buyer grants and down payment assistance programs. From time to time, cities and or even the federal government will offer home buyer grants to help stimulate home buying. Generally speaking, when it’s a city or county offering the grant, the funds are limited and when they run out, that’s the end of the program until new funding becomes available. Davis County and the City of Ogden for example both have grants right now for first time home buyers. There are also usually income limits or other restrictions with grants. Many of them require you to make under a certain amount annually and/or you have to live in the home for X number of years for the grant to be completely forgiven. More permanent down payment assistance programs are also available to non-first time buyers such as Utah Housing and the Chenoa fund. Generally those programs are more flexible and a lot more people will qualify. They usually consist of a small 2nd mortgage in lieu of a down payment and sometimes the 2nd mortgage can be forgiven if you live in the home for so long. At the end of the day it’s always a good idea to ask your lender if any grants are available when you buy a home because you may be surprised that you qualify and who doesn’t want some free money?! Call me with any questions or for more details on existing grants right now.