Gulf Coast Renaissance My Home My Coast

They have done it again! Renaissance Corporation has teamed up with Mississippi's leading financial, public, and business minds and have come up with a program to help a broad range of individuals and families achieve their dream of homeownership. We are proud of them and thank them for their hard work. Here are some highlights of the program:

MyHome MyCoast was launched in April 2009 by the Gulf Coast Renaissance Corporation as a perpetual fund to assist thousands of residents and potential residents of Mississippi's six coastal counties. The long-term, stimulus-style housing program will provide homeownership opportunities to private individuals, focusing on those who have been negatively impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and/or the recent national credit crisis. Through it's initial goal to bridge the gap in affordable workforce housing in the area, MyHome MyCoast - which is a partnership developed by Renaissance with Mississippi's largest financial lenders, the Gulf Coast Business Council, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, Mississippi Development Authority, Gulf Coast Housing Director Gerald Blessey and several community-based organizations - also provides many benefits to South Mississippi, including stimulating the private real estate market.

Who can participate in MyHome MyCoast? What type of support is made available to applicants of the MyHome MyCoast program?

• An individual who is not a current homeowner in any of the six eligible counties.
• A renter interested in becoming a homeowner (cannot have owned a home in the preceding six months)
• A person displaced or affected by Hurricane Katrina who wishes to purchase a home in the six coastal counties.
• A new resident to the six coastal counties.
• An individual whose household income is not greater than 120 percent of the AMI based on the most-recent HUD income limits

Homeownership Counseling Partners will administer the NeighborWorks model for homeownership education and counseling, which includes:

• Orientation and assessment of the participant's readiness for homeownership
• Enrollment in the NeighborWorks Achieving the American Dream program, an eight-hour homeownership education course
• One-on-one counseling tailored to the individual needs of the participant for credit repair.
• Post-purchase counseling to prevent foreclosure required prior to closing on new home.

What are the financial benefits to participants of the MyHome MyCoast program?

• The program leverages local lenders' mortgages and offers a zero-percent interest on a second mortgage funded by Community Development Block Grant funds. The mortgages, which are 30-year, fixed-rate, have a loan-to-value position of 40/60 percent, with a graduating scale based upon household AMI.
• Flexibility in lending as the local financial lenders will not be burdened with selling loans in the secondary mortgage marketplace.
• A down-payment-assistance grant based on the AMI, ranging from $14,300 to $25,000.
• Up to $3,500 grant funds toward closing costs.
• Taxes and insurance will be escrowed by the lending institution.
• No origination fee

How do I get started? Call the MyHome MyCoast toll-free number: 1-888-49-COAST (1-888-492-6278)