Downpayment Plus – $10,000 Grants Available

Every week I attend a 7am  BNI networking meeting and each week a different member speaks for 10 minutes on a topic relevant to their industry.  This week I was reminded of a great down-payment/grant program for home buyers called DownPayment Plus.

DownPayment Plus is a grant program administered by The League of Financial Institutions and funded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.  Their goal is to help low-income home buyers in Illinois.  Check out their handy web tool to see if you qualify.

Basic Details of the Grant:

• Your income must be below 80% of the median income for your area.  In Champaign this means a family of 4 could earn as much as $53.700 and still qualify for the $10,000 grant.
• The borrower must contribute a minimum of $1000 of their own money towards the purchase.
• It appears that you could use this grant to purchase an owner-occupied duplex or a single-family home.
• You must own the home for 5 years to avoid any recapture of the grant.  This is prorate per month with 1/60th of the grant forgiven each month.
• You can couple this with an FHA or Conventional mortgage.

With interest rates ridiculously low and the opportunity for large grants to cover the bulk of your down-payment it truly is a great time to buy your next home.  If you or someone you know would like more information have them contact me and I’ll put you in touch with a local lender to get you full details.  You can also learn more about DownPayment Plus on their site.