Hastings County Officially Launches Home Ownership Program
Posted by Becky on 11 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Programs, Trish Belford, mortgage, real estate, tips
Hastings County staff are preparing to be swamped with applications for its new home ownership program, which officially launched this week.
Application forms for the program, which offers assistance to renters who can’t afford the down payment of a new home, were posted on the county’s website Tuesday (http://www.hastingscounty.com/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=150).
Since then staff have fielded dozens of calls from potential applicants and interested financial institutions and Realtors, said Michelle Ogden, an affordable housing supervisor with the county.
“I think we’ll have 200 to 300 applications for sure,” she said.
The program will dish out loans for up to 38 qualified applicants, who will be chosen from a lottery that will take place in June.
The loan is to cover five per cent of the total value of the home, up to $7,500. It will be forgivable to those who stay in the home for 20 or more years.
To qualify for the lottery, applicants must be 18 or older and have a household income of $48,000 or less. The home must be in Hastings County, Belleville or Quinte West and be valued at $162,000 or less. The home may be new or a resale. Detached and semi-detached homes plus town houses, stacked homes, row houses or condo apartments are eligible, however, mobile homes or vacant lots are not.
Ogden advises those interested in the program to pick out a house and get their mortgage approved first, before submitting an application.
“It’s also important for them to have good contact with their lending officer and realtor, because they are going to give them the best advice on how to buy a home.”
Applications can be downloaded from www.hastingscounty.com. The deadline to file an application is June 26. The lottery will be the next day.
Those who win the lottery will have until November 10 to provide an accepted offer to purchase a home, or the loan will be withdrawn.
Source: Belleville Intelligencer - April 11, 2008
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