Great News for 1st Time Buyers
February 4th 2010 11:36 am
This past Monday, I attended a webinar on a new program that has been rolled out by CHFA (Colorado Housing Finance Authority). Well it’s sorta new. It is actually the old MRB FirstStep program taken off the shelf, dusted off, and put back on the market. If you are familiar with CHFA then you may remember back when the first time buyer program from CHFA had very competitive rates. Sometimes they were even better then regular FHA rates. Then the mortgage industry blew up and the bond market took a hit the the source of funding for that program (Mortgage Revenue Bonds) went away. When that happened, CHFA rates went sky high. So about a year ago CHFA did some revamping of their programs offerings and they were able to bring their rates down to a reasonable level for buyers that needed the down payment assistance that CHFA is so famous for.
Well now the Mortgage Revenue Bonds are back in vogue and therefore, CHFA is able to bring back this program. This is for first time buyers only and the income restrictions are a little tighter then the program that they have been using for the last year but the interest rates are about 1/2% better. Today (2/04/2010) on the CHFA website, the FirstStep program with the 2nd loan for down payment, had a published interest rate of 5.25%. That is the rate on both the FHA 1st and the small 2nd (equal to 3% of the 1st loan amount). Both are 30 year fixed loans with no prepay penalties. As a Buyer, you still have to put a minimum of $1,000 into the transaction and needs to take a first time buyers class. The class is free and can be taken online or in a classroom setting.
So with this program available and the $8,000 tax credit out there for first time buyers (under contract by April 30 and close by the end of June), this would be an excellent time to contact a CHFA certified lender (or I can help you to) to see what you might qualify for and then contact your Realtor and start looking at houses.
If you have any questions about CHFA you can call me or go to www.chfainfo.com
Let me know when I can help or if I can answer any questions. Mark
Also, if you are attending the Realtor Rally and want to learn more about FHA, CHFA, and the lending industry in general, I am teaching 2 classes. One is at 11:15 on the state of the lending industry and the other is at 1 on the new issues and updates regarding FHA loans. I hope to see you there.
A great site for all things REAL ESTATE is www.insiderealestatenews.com This is edited by John Rebchook, formerly of the Rocky Mtn News.