For qualified home buyers, now is a great time to buy. When you take the inventory that is out there, factor in the lower prices that homes are now selling for as well as the incredibly low interest rates, home buying seems like a great choice. However, if you combine the downpayment and settlement cost assistance through various incentive programs, home buying can almost seem like a no brainer.
From
http://www.mdhousing.org/, check out the article below on some of the programs that the Maryland Mortgage Program is featuring in recognition of June as National Homeownership Month.
Maryland Mortgage Program Unveils Special Home Buying Incentives for Baltimore City and Other Maryland Targeted Areas
Announcement Promotes June Homeownership Month
CROWNSVILLE, MD (May 31, 2012) – The Maryland Mortgage Program announced today that it is offering a reduced interest rate of 2.875% (APR 3.675%) in targeted areas around the state, including the entire jurisdiction of Baltimore City. The promotion, which commemorates June’s National Homeownership Month, was announced by Maryland Housing Secretary Raymond A. Skinner at a home for sale in the Barclay-Old Goucher community. Joining Secretary Skinner at the event were Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano, Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. President Mark Sissman, Catherine Stokes, Sr. Project Manager of developer Telesis Corp., and homebuyer Sara Prammawat.
"Homeownership is an important goal for many families and young professionals and we want to help them achieve this dream," said Secretary Skinner. "We recognize that Maryland has a top notch workforce and we are offering this attractive low interest rate as a strong incentive to these talented individuals and families to buy homes and invest within Baltimore City and other targeted areas around the state."
The Maryland Mortgage Program offers a variety of low-interest, fixed-rate mortgage loan options with downpayment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers; purchasers in a targeted area are eligible for a one-time exemption to the first-time homebuyer requirement. The reduced rate of 2.875% (APR 3.675%) will be offered to all qualified buyers for approximately three months or until the entire $30 million earmarked for this incentive is committed.
This special promotion also includes incentives for eligible buyers of any foreclosed or short sale property (collectively referred to as the Save-a-Home Loan Progam) in a non-targeted area. The interest rate for this program will be three-fourths percent below the regular Maryland Mortgage Program with a floor of 3.25% (APR 4.082%) and will only be available for the month of June.
Earlier this month Mayor Rawlings-Blake announced the launch of a second round of funding of an additional $500,000 for the
Vacants to Value Homeownership Program, making it a total of $1 million for the first 100 buyers of
Vacants to Value eligible homes. Other Baltimore City programs include the First Time Homebuyer Program, Buying into Baltimore, Live Near Your Work and the Employee Homeownership program.
"This is an amazing program that will support our goal of bringing 10,000 new residents into the City of Baltimore," said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. "I applaud Governor O'Malley and Secretary Skinner for being innovative with programs that will help Maryland's real estate economy and also serve as a huge boon for Baltimore."
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and Baltimore City Housing are proud to join a strong network of housing organizations that promote home buying in Baltimore City. Additional incentives and resources offered by the following partners can be combined with Maryland Mortgage Program benefits and each other to maximize savings for homebuyers in Baltimore City.
Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. (HNI) helps strong but undervalued neighborhoods increase home values, market their communities, create high standards for property improvement and build strong connections among neighbors. HNI offers two major home buying programs:
- The Healthy Neighborhoods Loan Program offers low-interest loans to acquire/rehab, refinance/rehab, or make home improvements to residential property. Incentives include a 3% downpayment, loan amounts up to 110% of after-rehab value, no private mortgage insurance, and free design advice.
- The Neighborhood Stabilization Program offers:
- $6,000 in closing cost assistance when purchasing a home that is fully renovated by one of our developer partners; and
- $25,000 to purchase a foreclosed, abandoned or short-sale property in a targeted neighborhood.
More information on Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc., can be found on
http://www.healthyneighborhoods.org/
Live Baltimore is the most comprehensive organization focused on Baltimore City Living. It aims to market the City of Baltimore as a great place to live and grow the city's population. Live Baltimore offers numerous education and marketing outreach to the public and details can be found on the organization’s website,
http://www.livebaltimore.org/
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Maryland’s flagship mortgage purchase program has been under the purview of the department’s Community Development Administration for more than 30 years. Program loans are administered by a network of approximately 35 private lending institutions across the state. For more information on the Maryland Mortgage Program, especially details on income and purchase price limits and a map of targeted areas, please visit
http://www.mmprogram.org/ or contact the Community Development Administration by phone at 410-514-7535 or by e-mail at
SingleFamilyHousing@mdhousing.org
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development works with partners to finance housing opportunities and revitalize great places for Maryland citizens to live, work and prosper. To learn more about DHCD’s programs, visit
http://www.mdhousing.org/.
News updates also are available by following DHCD on Twitter (
www.twitter.com/MDHousing) and Facebook (
www.facebook.com/marylandhousing).
For more information:
Erlene Wilson
Director, Office of Communications and Marketing
410-514-7704
wilson@mdhousing.org
Rosa Cruz
Deputy Director, Office of Communications and Marketing
410-514-7712
cruz@mdhousing.org
Andy DeVilbiss
410-514-7710
devilbiss@mdhousing.org
Erik Hart
REALTOR®, BPI Analyst
Severna Park Sales
Long and Foster Realtors
410-544-4000 Office
443-889-6860 Cell
www.erikhart.lnf.com
http://www.topofthemarket.blogspot.com/
