The Hometown Heroes Program has been COMPLETELY overhauled and will now include CASH to help YOU close on a home here in Florida. But are these changes good? Afterall, the previous program’s intent was to help Hometown Heroes? Will the new program still help them?

The Hometown Heroes program that gave out $100M dollars to first-time homebuyers was a great program, but it’s just a shell of what it is now because they’ve made it so much easier for SO MANY MORE people to access. If you are looking to buy a home here in Florida, you NEED to check this out because it could provide THOUSANDS of dollars towards a home purchase, and it’s pretty easy to get.

This program was first launched in June 2022, and has since helped over 6,700 families purchase homes. The basic qualifications were pretty simple; however, there were some serious limitations that hindered many people from being able to use this program.

I’m Chuck Shaver of the Shaver Group and I’m a Realtor® with Keller Williams Heritage Realty here in Central Florida and today I will be discussing some of the MASSIVE changes that have just been made to this program. Make sure you stick around for the last change… because it’s the one that impacts most regular folks just like you and me and I’m sure it could help you or someone you know save up to $35,000 for the purchase of a home.

So, what’s changed? As of July 1^st, 2023, the Hometown Heroes Program has received an additional $100 Million to continue helping families buy their first home. The maximum down payment assistance amount has increased to $35,000, or up to 5% of the loan amount, AND you may get a better interest rate.

There also used to be a set income limit, but now that limit is assessed by the county’s median income. You must earn less than 150% of the area’s median income, which increases the buying power for a lot of people! That’s around $130,000 for many of us here in Central Florida and I know a lot of people making less than that. Yes, you still must technically be a first-time home buyer (meaning you haven’t owned a home in the last 3 years) and have a minimum credit score of 640. But if you pay your bills and keep a regular job, there’s a good chance that you’ll qualify.

Now, before you go getting all crazy and thinking this is some sort of free cash machine, It should be noted that this is NOT a FORGIVABLE loan, it comes as a second, non-interest-bearing loan that is free to you as long as you own the home as your primary residence. So you do have to pay it back if you no longer live in the home, but most people never completely pay off their mortgages anyways. This program helps buyers by providing funds to get them into their home that they NEVER have to pay interest on-that’s a big deal!

Before the updates. this was a great program. It was good for a lot of people working in first responder careers, but it left out SOOOO many people. This program used to be limited to specific occupations such as teaching, the medical field, law enforcement and military. Though this did help a ton of families, it left out everyone else like those in customer service, retail, hospitality, tech, marketing and many more. As a result, yes, the major changes to this program are GOOD changes as they help so many more people.

The only job requirement now is that you must be working for a Florida-based company and purchasing a home in the community in which you work. This emphasizes the program’s focus on supporting individuals who are committed to their communities.

If you are interested in learning more about this program, make sure to check out this link. Of course, you can always just give me a call or text directly.

Published on August 22. 2023 / Tags: first time home buyer, Home Buying, home buying assistance, Hometown heroes / no comments.