One of the most daunting steps to take towards accessing home ownership is coming up with the down payment. I know as a millennial myself, the idea of having to pay those pesky student loan bills every month and a mortgage seem, well honestly impossible. But believe it or not but there are many opportunities available to overcome that hurdle in the home buying process. The dream of being a first time homebuyer isn't that far out of reach for those in a similar boat.

 

The city of New Orleans has created a down payment assistance program through the Finance Authority of New Orleans (FANO). FANO is a housing and development finance agency created to serve New Orleans. They help to provide mortgage financing for low to moderate income families and credit support for affordable rental and community development projects. Their mission is to improve the quality of life in New Orleans by investing in the creation of affordable housing and economic development projects, which in turn creates quality jobs and wealth for residents.


In order to be eligible for this program, potential homebuyers must attend a homebuyer counseling course prior to final loan approval. Information on approved homebuying education courses can be found on financeauthority.org. Only attendance at an approved course will count towards the requirements for the program. Along with attendance at an approved course, financing must be acquired through one of their participating lenders.


Successful completion of the requirements for the program will allow homebuyers to choose from two forms of down payment assistance. The first option will give homebuyers a second interest free loan that would cover 10% of their purchase price to use as a down payment. The second option will give homebuyers a grant that would cover either 3% or 5% of their purchase price. In order to qualify for the second option, the homebuyers must remain in that home for the next five years or will have to face repayment of the grant.

 

More information on the assistance program can be found at www.financeauthority.org. You can also reach out to any of our agents here at Mirambell and we can help you through the process.