5 Money Saving Programs Most NH Homebuyers Don’t Know About

And they aren’t just for first-time buyers.

New Hampshire Housing offers a number of different homeownership programs to help make home ownership more affordable.  While the specific programs may have different income limits, in general, they serve home buyers with incomes up to $151,200.  And not all programs require you to be a first time buyer either. 

That’s right, you may qualify for a program that offers reduced PMI and money toward your down payment and closing costs, even if you aren’t a first time buyer. 

Let’s take a look at what’s available: 

1. Home Preferred and Home Preferred Plus It seems like nobody knows about this program and it’s such a great option if you’re putting less than 20% down. This program provides home-buyers ( first time or seasoned) with conventional financing, a greatly reduced mortgage insurance option plus cash toward down payment and/or closing costs, up to 4% of the base loan amount. The reduced mortgage insurance can lower the cost of your monthly mortgage plus the down payment cash can help you keep more of your money in your pocket. This program can also be used if you’ve already purchased your home and you want to refinance.

2. Home Flex and Home Flex Plus  includes government-insured financing at a great low fixed rate mortgage with no loan level price adjustment and can be combined with cash assistance of up to 4% of the base loan amount that can go toward down payment and closing costs. This program is great for a buyer with a lower credit score or a first time buyer who doesn’t have a lot of money saved for down payment. 

3.Home First and Home First Plus – For this one you do  have to be a first time buyer – or a buyer who has not owned a home in the past 3 years. Unless..you are buying in a targeted area, like Newmarket, Dover, Portsmouth or Somersworth, then the first time buyer requirement doesn’t apply at all. Homebuyers under this program benefit from a low fixed-rate loan and $10,000 in cash assistance for downpayment and closing costs. 

Plus, If you’re a 1st Generation Homebuyer, meaning you’ve never owned a home and your parents have never owned a home, you can get an additional $10,000 toward your down payment. 

4. The Purchase Rehab Program is a government insured mortgage that can be combined with Home Flex Plus, which provides downpayment and closing cost assistance. With the Purchase Rehab Program, homebuyers can add up to $35,000 to a mortgage with as little as 3.5% down, to assist with repairs and upgrades to a fixer-upper. The program can cover things like cosmetic repairs and upgrades, energy-efficiency and safety improvements, and other non-structural repairs that add value to the property. 

5. The Homebuyer Tax Credit Program can be combined with some of the other programs and homebuyers can save up to $2,000 annually with a federal tax credit for the life of their loan. This decreases the taxes you owe and may boost your take-home pay. 

There are of course, some other requirements to all of the programs, like the home has to be an owner-occupied primary residence and a homebuyer education class is required for first time home buyers and those getting cash for their down payment.

If you are wondering about the requirements for a specific program, feel free to reach out. 

If you or someone you know  is looking for a home, let’s schedule a time to meet in over Zoom or in person, to see if you qualify for one of these money saving programs.