FHA and the Nehemiah Down Payment Assistance Program!

Nehemiah Program

The Nehemiah Corporation is "a community development corporation specializing in homeownership, affordable housing and community development." The Nehemiah Program, founded in 1997, is the largest privately funded down payment assistance program (DPA) in the country and has helped a quarter of a million families buy homes.

Nehemiah provides gift funds for the down payment and closing costs to qualified home buyers who use an eligible loan program like the FHA. The Nehemiah program provides gift funds by having the seller contribute an amount equal to the gift (up to 6% of the sales price in case of FHA) plus a processing fee to Nehemiah program.  The Nehemiah program in turn provides a gift to the buyer. The funds are considered a gift because the funds are not a loan:  there are no payments due, there is no "recapture", nor do the funds ever have to be repaid.

The Nehemiah program works well with an eligible loan program such as an FHA. In fact, with FHA's 2.85% down payment requirement, there is often enough gift funds left over to cover most or all the closing costs. Neither FHA nor the Nehemiah program require that the borrower contribute any of their own funds in the transaction.  If you are a qualified homebuyer using an eligible loan program, you may be able to move into your new home with zero cash out of pocket!

The new, temporary FHA and Conforming Loan Limits for 2008 were released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). To get the new loan limit for your Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ,  Click here.  The maximum temporary loan limit is calculated as 1.25 times the median house price for the highest priced county in the property's metropolitan or micropolitan area.

For more information on the Nehemiah Program, borrowers may contact me at 1.925.688.3820 or contact the Nehemiah program at 1-877-634-3642.  Borrowers may also take Nehemiah's free online homeownership education course.

General Guidelines:

• Owner occupied 1-4 unit residence.
• Full Documentation Loan
• No funds required from borrower.
• No income or asset limits.
• No reserves required.
• No geographic restrictions.
• Gift funds for both first time and repeat homebuyers (Nehemiah charges a nominal processing fee that may be paid by the seller, homebuyer, or lender.)
• Non-occupying co-borrowers are allowed.
• Gift funds for both new construction and resale homes.
• Maximum loan limits with FHA financing that vary by County.

For More Information on These First-Time Home Buyer Programs, Please contact me and/or also read:

• Mortgage Programs for First Time Home Buyers
• FHA Loans: The First-Time Home Buyers Loan of Choice!
• The ACORN Program - Not Just for Fisrt-Time Home Buyers 
• CalHFA: A California First TIME Home Buyer's Prgram With Up to 100% Financing  

You can find AJ Nisen on Active Rain at Contra Costa California Mortgages or at Bank of America Mortgage .  Call AJ to talk about your Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Free Credit Report or visit AJ's website to use his mortgage calculator. 

Alan 'AJ' Nisen
Mortgage Loan Officer
Email: aj.nisen@bankofamerica.com
http://mortgage.bankofamerica.com/ajnisen 
http://www.activerain.com/ajn