Florida first time home buyer programs have been developed with the purpose of encouraging home buyers to buy homes in Florida. Making housing affordable for people intending to settle in Florida is at the heart of such programs. Home buyers can search for grants that are available for home buying. There are other mortgage grants that are also available. Families and individuals with low to moderate incomes are beneficiaries of such schemes that are linked to low fixed interest mortgage loans. Some of the schemes provide assistance for closing costs and down payment that comes handy to buyers who are able to save some out of pocket expenses.
The flagship program
Florida Housing Finance Corporation offers financial assistance to home buyers. Florida first time home buyer programs of this company offers fixed rate mortgage loans with tenure of 30 years throughout the state of Florida with finances being arranged by lending institutions and lenders. The salient feature of this program is that it is applicable for first mortgage only. Although meant for first time home buyers only, if one is buying a home in a specific federally designated location or the home buyer is a qualified veteran, they are also eligible to participate in the scheme.
Eligibility criteria
Eligibility for the program is determined by using the parameters of purchase price limits and income. The other things that are required are qualifying FICO score and fulfilling qualifications for mortgage. In order to ascertain you eligibility you can contact the loan officers to help you.
FICO score
FICO is the short form of Fair Isaac Co, a company that specializes in predictive analysis. Unlike fortune tellers, the company uses information to analyze it so as to predict future happenings. Credit information of borrowers are gathered and analyzed to arrive at credit scores that indicate the behavior o the borrower. The score can be used to understand the repayment capability of the borrower and also indicate their ability to handle a fairly large credit line. For mortgage FICO score between 300 and 850 is considered with the credit risk diminishing with higher score.
Other programs
There are many other Florida first time home buyer programsthat have been listed below.
- USDA Rural Housing– To qualify for this program the home that you are buying must be located in a rural approved area according to the map published by USDA. With 100 percent financing option, first time home buyers can be assured of buying a home with almost zero out of pocket spending. You should have a minimum credit score to qualify for this loan and fulfill other requirements of household income.
- FHA loan– The loan is granted by the Federal Housing Administration and requires minimum down payment and fixed interest loans at low rate with 15 and 30 years repayment are offered.
- Veterans Assistance Mortgage – This is also a zero down payment loan scheme of the government that has the backing of the US department of Veterans Affairs.
