What Is The House Charlotte Housing Program?

In Charlotte, NC. there is a popular program among first time home buyers with limited resources for a down payment. It is a program called House Charlotte. The program is desgined to help stabilize select neighborhoods throughout Charlotte while promoting home ownership. The House Charlotte program provides up to $10,000 assistance toward down payment and closing costs for "challenged " neighborhoods. In addition it provides up to $7500 assistance toward down payment and closing costs for "transitional" neighborhoods. This program is designed to help first time home buyers purchase a home. You still need to qualify for a mortgage as if you were applying without the program. the difference is with this program you do not need a down payment to to buy a home. In addition the money you receive from House Charlotte is forgiveable over a 10 year period. So, in essence if you stay in the house ten years you end up getting the money for free. If you move prior to the 10 year period you have to pay it back to the city. There are over 87 elgible neighborhoods in Charlotte that qualify. There are a lot of areas that qualify for the program. Not everywhere in Charlotte and becuase the city actually maps the areas out differently; you will need to do an address search to make sure the home you select is in a qualifying neighborhood. What other requriements are there for this? You are required to attend a home buying seminar at the local office in uptown. In addition the home price cannto be over $147,000 and your income cannot be over 110% fo the median income of Charlotte. The median income is based on the household size. (at the time of this a single person would have to make $51,750 or less a year and a family of four $73,900). if you are looking to buy a home and the only thing holding you back is down payment...Consider using the House Charlotte program. It is a great way to enjoy the benefits of home ownership while interest rates are at record lows. To see what area are avaialble you can visit http://www.cmhp.org/Homeownership-Program/HouseCharlotte-Program.cfm Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com