We have an unbelievable grant program for first time home buyers here in Maricopa County and no one seems to know about it! It's called the Home in 5 Program and it provides a 5% grant to first time home buyers to assist with downpayment and closing costs. This is a grant, not a loan. YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY IT BACK.
The grant is based on the loan amount. So, if you borrow $200,000 the grant would be $10,0000. That's ten grand of free money. If you couple the Home in 5 grant with an FHA loan you've got a near perfect combination for a first time buyer. The FHA loan requires 3% down payment, which can come from the grant. The remaining 2% can be used towards the loan costs. So all that's left are some escrow fees and setting up your property tax and homeowners insurance accounts. And in a buyers market like we have today you can usually get the seller to pay those for you. So you can literally buy a home with almost nothing out of you pocket!
Of course there are some restrictions. There are income limits based on family size. There are also limits on the purchase price of the home. You can get the details on those limits by visting JohnSellsPhoenix.com, clicking on the First Time Buyer Tab and then clicking the link to the Maricopa County Home in 5 Program.
This is an unbeatable deal and people need to be more aware of it. So tell everyone you know. Maybe they aren't first time home buyers but maybe they know someone who is. Prices are down, interest rates are low and there's free money available. Sounds like a good deal to me.