Oakland County Homebuyer Assistance Program

It was standing room only at the workshop on Saturday, February 28 in Waterford for buyers interested in participating in Oakland County's homebuyer program for vacant foreclosed properties. Over 200 attended this event, a mix of homebuyers, real estate agents and mortgage providers. This is a great opportunity for first-time homebuyers who currently rent or live with family members.

I will e-mail the information package to all Preview Properties.com agents, but here are some of the highlights:

• Oakland County currently has $5,000,000 designated for this program. Which means roughly 60-70 applicants will be able to participate. They expect more funding to follow in late April / early May based on what they have heard.
• First come, first served. Backup positions will be available. If the application is not completed in full, the applicant will be notified but will fall to the back of the line.
• Homebuyer must prequalify for fixed rate mortgage from lending institution, which will represent 51% of the total amount that iwll be available for purchase and rehab of home. Oakland County will finance the remaining 49%, up to $100,000, with a no interest loan to be paid back when homebuyer sells home or ceases living in home as primary residence.
• Household income must fall within HUD income limits based on household size. The package I will send out will contain income levels for each size household in Attachment B.
• $2,000 down payment is needed from homebuyer to initiate purchase.
• The acquisition price of the home must be at least 15% less than the as-is appraised value.
• Oakland County will provide and pay for a two-part appraisal (as-is and after rehab).
• The purchase agreement must allow for 75 days for closing without penalties from date of signing of the purchase agreement contract.
• Specific language is required in the purchase agreement, which is included in the package I will be distributing.
• There are 43 select communities that are participating in this program - see Attachment A in the package. Many of the communities not participating already have a program and should be contacted directly. Southfield, Pontiac and Waterford have programs directly funded by HUD.
• Interested homebuyers must not have an executed purchase agreement at time of application.
• Credit scores should be in the 620 and above range, although they haven't ruled out credit scores 580 or above at this time.
• Home must be homebuyer's principle residence.
• Applicants must complete 8 hours of homeownership training, hosted by Oakland County's Housing Counseling Unit.
• Single family homes and condos may be purchased under this program. Mobile homes, co-operatives and multi-family units aren't eligible.

The example they ran through at the workshop was:

Homebuyer identifies an $80,000 home, needing $20,000 in improvements, totaling $100,000. The homebuyer will obtain a mortgage through a lender for 51% of the total price, or $51,000 in this example. The remaining $49,000 will be provided by Oakland County as a 0% interest, deferred loan.

Terri Weisman and Marie Karas from Property Mortgage also attended the session, so see any of us for questions or visit the website www.oakgov.com/chi for more information.

If you are not an agent at Preview Properties.com and interested in receiving the package referred to above, e-mail lbohlen@previewproperties.com and I will be happy to get it to you.