Hometown Heroes Florida Homeownership Program For First Time Buyers! Info and Benefits

FINALLY! A first-time homebuyer’s assistance program with some REAL teeth! The Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program just made homeownership more affordable for our local heroes! Are you a frontline community worker such as a law enforcement officer, educator, health care professional, or a childcare employee? Then you’re going to want to learn about this new program that could get you up to $25,000 towards your home purchase!

Today I’d like to share the benefits of this new program that has the highest and most inclusive eligibility of all Florida Housing down payment assistant programs. Before I get too far in here, I’ll apologize if it sounds like I’m selling this stuff or something, but that’s NOT the case. It’s exciting to me because we finally have a program to help BUYERS in this SELLER’S market.

First, let’s discuss the main benefits of this program. Not only does this program offer a lower first mortgage rate, but you can get up to 5% of the mortgage in down payment or closing costs assistance with a max amount of $25,000. This assistance is available in the form of a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage… with NO origination fee! This second loan can be repayable when you sell or refinance your home.

So, who is eligible?

Here is an in-depth list of all those who qualify. But to summarize the list: it’s anyone who works full time as a military professional or veteran, law enforcement officer, fire fighter, certified educator and childcare operator, most people in the medical field and even athletic trainers will qualify! The list is very extensive, and you might be surprised that you can qualify! Keep in mind, you also need to have a credit score of at least 640, so they’re not just throwing out free cash all Willy Nilly.

What is the catch?

You do have to be a first-time home buyer. A first-time home buyer can include anyone who has not owned a primary residence within the past 3 years and plans to live in the property as a primary residence within 60 days of closing. There is also an income limit that varies by county, as well as a maximum loan amount. As of right now the limit is $420,680 for FHA and USDA and is $647,200 for conventional and VA loans.

As you can see, this program is a great opportunity for our local heroes. Please check out the additional resources I’ve provided below. Keep in mind that I am just a local Realtor®, not a mortgage lender, but am happy to answer any questions or help connect you with a reliable lender who can approve you and help you see IF this is a good fit for you.

Check out the links below as they’ll provide more details about this program. If you have additional questions about this program or any other real estate matter, please reach out to me directly.

https://www.floridahousing.org/programs/homebuyer-overview-page/hometown-heroes

https://flgov.com/2022/05/23/governor-ron-desantis-announces-launch-of-florida-hometown-heroes-housing-program/

Published on June 16. 2022 / Tags: first responders, first time buyer, front line workers, Housing assistance / no comments.