Down Payment Assistance Income Limits

If you’ve landed on this page you must be affected by Down Payment Assistance Income Limits.  You’ve probably already found out that most of the programs like SETH and TSAHC have income restrictions.  They also have higher interest rates.  While those programs are good for some people, they are not ideal for some.  

These days TSAHC and SETH can come with the option of you having to pay them back.  What if there was an option for you to get help with your closing costs, get a cheaper interest rate, and not have to worry about paying any of the money back?

Down Payment Assistance Income Limits

The down payment assistance income limits set in place by most of the major down payment assistance programs can make it tough for someone like yourself to purchase a home using their program.  The way they see it; if you make a certain amount of money, you should be able to afford the down payment on a home.  The limits are fairly low for a two-income family also, so it’s almost impossible to meet those levels.  Today at the time of this article the income limit for Seth 5-Star is around $84,000 in the Dallas Metroplex and The Limit For TSAHC is around $99,000 unless you live in a “Targeted Area”.

Solution To Down Payment Assistance Income Limits

After being in the mortgage business for over 15 years, I’ve seen several families who qualify for a home but just don’t have all of the money to cover the cost of the down payment and the closing costs.  I understand that creates a barrier of entry for a lot of people and it’s keeping them from having their piece of the American Dream.  With that being said, I came up with the idea of becoming a Hybrid Agent. (#hybridagent)

A Hybrid Agent is a Licensed Mortgage Originator as well as a Licensed Real Estate Professional.  You’ve got one person doing the job that is normally two people.  The Hybrid Agent has the ability to help you find a home (realtor) and help you obtain the loan (loan officer).  When this is done, the Hybrid Agent get’s paid twice.  In this scenario, the agent is willing to provide “up to” 50% of the real estate commission towards your closing costs.   In most real estate transactions, this commission is 3%.  By that math, if you were to purchase a home for $300,000 the agent could potentially make $9,000.  Of that 9K, $4500 dollars of that money could be going towards your closing costs.

If you’re that person out there who makes too much to qualify for a down payment assistance program and just don’t have all of the money saved up for the Down Payment and The Closing Costs; an extra 4500 to your bottom line, could be the difference in you buying a home and not.    

This would also be helpful in a situation where you want to refinance.  The Down Payment Assistance programs sometimes come with a second lien.  In most cases, the second lien is silent and doesn’t have to be paid if you pay the house off.  Some of them have expiring liens that go away after so many years.  This means you must keep your loan for so long before you refinance.  An example, say you want to refinance to get a lower rate.  If you have a second lien DPA, you will have to pay that entire DPA back in order to refinance.  Assume your DPA amount was 4% on a 200K home purchase.  You would have to come up with $8,000 dollars to pay the loan off just to take advantage of lower interest rates.  This isn’t meant to scare you from DPA programs, but we want to make sure you know everything that’s involved. 

I personally have specialized in down payment assistance programs and they are awesome for what they are intended to do.  However, a lot of people try and take advantage of them at the advice of their real estate agent.  Basically, they are told, “I can get you into a home with nothing out of pocket.”  While it may be true, there is always a cost.  

Our Hybrid Agent Program allows you to get the best interest rate you qualify for, as well as help you pay some of the closing costs without all the terms and conditions of the down payment assistance programs.  You should definitely learn more about our Hybrid Agent Program By Clicking Here.

We’ve designed a special home search website that will show you exactly how much you can get towards your closing costs when you use our program.  Check out the savings and be on the way to purchasing your new home.  Start Your Home Search Here!