Pima County offers assistance to first time homebuyers and Veterans

Pima County, AZ just put out a press release yesterday that they are offering up to $8,500 towards buyer’s closing costs, as well as 30 year fixed rate mortgages for 3.5%.

The terms are as follows:

To qualify for the down payment assistance and the 3.5% interest rate, borrowers must be first-time buyers or veterans, or the home must be in one of 19 targeted census tracts in Pima County (see attached map).

The $8,500 in down payment assistance is available to households whose family income is 80% or less of the area median income (for example, $38,200 or less for a family of two or $47,700 or less for a family of four).

If their household income is higher, buyers can still take advantage of the 3.5% interest rate, which has higher household income limits.  For the 3.5% interest rate, the household income limits are:

Family Household Income Limits

Size Pima County Target areas

1-2                  $71,520                      $72,960

3 or more       $83,440                      $85,120

To qualify for down payment assistance, the  buyer must have $1,000 to contribute to the purchase but must not have cash assets exceeding $10,000.

The buyer must also complete HUD Certified  buyer Counseling at one of the following agencies:

Chicanos Por La Causa

Paul Swift

200 N. Stone Ave.

Tucson, AZ  85701

(520) 882-0018

Paul.swift@cplc.org

Family Housing Resources

1700 E. Fort Lowell, Suite 101

Tucson, AZ 85719

cris@thrinc.net

Old Pueblo Community Services

Terry Galligan

4501 E. 5^th St.

Tucson, AZ  85711

(520) 546-0122

TerryGalligan@helptucson.org

Pio Decimo Center

Jesus Mora

848 S. 7^th Ave.

Tucson, AZ  85701

(520) 622-2801

jmora@piodecimocenter.org

Primavera Foundation

151 W. 40^th St.

Tucson, AZ  85713

(520) 882-5383, ext. 132

csilva@primavera.org

TMM Family Services

Tres Lister

1550 N. Country Club Blvd.

Tucson, AZ  85716

(520) 322-9557

tlister@tmmfs.org

What a great program! Let’s hope that Tucson first time home buyers and Veterans will take advantage of this program when buying a home here in Tucson.

Currently about 52% of the real estate market in the Tucson area is sales of distressed properties. This includes both short sales and foreclosures. The Pima County program is sure to be a win-win for buyers, as well as helping to clear out this deep cycle of distressed property sales. The program will help first time buyers and Veterans get into a new home, and it will also benefit the Tucson real estate market by reducing inventories of distressed properties. Both local and national experts have agreed that reducing inventory levels will be the key in the market finally reaching a bottom, and eventually returning to a more balanced real estate market where the market absorbs properties at a faster rate.

If you have any questions about this program, or the home buying process in general, please call Sarah Ley, ABR, CRS, CNHSA, Senior Associate with Long Realty, at (520) 404-0544.