How To Obtain
Home Buying Grants
(On Your Neck Of The Woods)

Here is how to obtain home buying grants (on your neck of the woods):

1) Please contact your county and/or city “housing authority” – every county should have one entity who handles down payment assistance. Within many cities there are their own separate DPA programs …AND many cities more, like Atlanta, GA has more than one!

2) So start asking questions to county and city[ies] near you. Your county commissioner may have some info worthy checking.

3) I have found Grants in ALL 50 states + Puerto Rico + The Territories! I have listed them on my page Home-Grants-List

Here in Georgia, the estate that I live and work, there is a statewide program Called Georgia Dream – see link below.

4) Each of the counties, through the ‘housing authority department’ mentioned on paragraph #1 above.

Please be aware that, at the local level, the programs can take a different name.

How to Obtain Home Buying Grants: Enlist The Help Of A Real Estate Agent

5) If you are looking to buy a home in the North Atlanta that I serve – and you still do not have a real estate agent, by all means contact me that I will be honored to serve as your agent.

If I do not work on your area, do contact a local real estate agent who is knowledgeable and willing to work DPA (Down Payment Assistance). 

How to Obtain Home Buying Grants: You Will Need A Knowledgeable Lender

6) Contact lender(s) who is/are willing to work with the DPA program[s]. Many community banks are involved with the programs available for you right there on your neck of the woods = they are your best contacts, because ultimately they are the ones will handle the financing of your home.

7) You will still will have to qualify for a mortgage loan because the grants are intended to help with the down payment assistance - so the lenders will feel more comfortable making the loan to you – however they do NOT pay for the mortgage moving forward …you will have to pay the mortgage every month until the home is paid off, not unlikely everybody else.

8) You will have to have a stablished good credit with mid FICO score of 620 [some programs require 640.]

I have written somewhere else on this site that down payment assistance is public money dispensed with the intent to create home ownership and the folks managing the funds are accountable and responsible that whoever receives the grants create roots and become successful homeowners…

In other words, whoever receives a home buying grant will not be in greater risk of defaulting on the mortgage loan than the rest of the population [not receiving the grants.]

Some states will have housing counseling offices – that are also a valuable resource, they will have counselors that will guide you all the way to home ownership!

Do NOT confuse Down Payment Assistance With Section 8

9) A lot of folks mistake DPA [Down Payment Assistance) with Section 8 that dispenses money every month to help those who need help with rent – they are two different programs.

I do not write about Section 8 because this site is not about renting.

Even so, here are some of the fundamental differences between the programs:

I) Section 8 – gives money for those who qualify to rent and need some assistance with the monthly payments. A certain amount of money is paid every month to landlord on the behalf of the tenant.

a. On the other hand, ‘the tenant’ will never own the property – and the program is NOT designed with the intention of ownership for the tenant

b. This assistance can go on for several months …and in some cases, several years.

II) DPA (Down Payment Assistance) is for those who are in a striking distance to transition from renters to homeowners and just need some assistance with the down payment to acquire the home they are buying.

a. The agency handling the DPA will give a one time lump sum to help with the down payment

b. The homebuyer will be responsible to carry the mortgage payment from the first payment on, until home is paid off …there will be NO additional moneys from the agency whatsoever after the home is purchased!

c. And yes, contrary to Section 8, the DPA programs are designed to establish home ownership and the persons who qualify for it, will be consider homebuyers as much as any other folks who are able to buy a home on their own financial resources …not unlikely Bill Gates! :- )

How to Obtain Home Buying Grants: Georgia Dream

10) As I’ve pointed out above, GA Dream is available here in Georgia statewide. I have checked every single state across the nation have at least one program that I have found – please click on this link to find one your state: Georgia Dream Info, please click here

Search Google For More How To Obtain Home Buying Grants

11) "Google is your best friend" – heard that before? do searches of the above mentioned info that something ought to come out.

Sometime back I received an inquiry from a person who was looking to obtain a home grant in Augusta, Georgia – a place where I do not practice my real estate profession…

I did a very quick search and found the agency handling the DPA grants in Augusta, but, in the same search, I found the agency for Aiken, Augusta sister city across the state line in South Carolina.

Pumped up by my findings, I made a search for Manhattan, NY and sure enough, they have an agency there as well!

I subsequently created a page to demonstrate how easy it is to locate DPA agencies – please click here

If you master that page along with this one that you are in, you should be able to locate DPA agencies anywhere in the country. :- )

How to Obtain Home Buying Grants: More Info On This Site

12) I have tons of info on my web site. On the top and on the bottom of every single of my pages there is a “Google search box” – just enter the term “DPA” and hit enter that you will see a treasure trove of information on all the pages that I have written thus far

At the end of this page there is another ton of useful info, click on those …some of these page have additional great info imbedded in them as well …you guessed it, click and follow those links as well

13) Finally – it is good to make it very clear: I do NOT dispense these grants!

I receive emails from all over the States - and some from overseas as well - asking me for grants that are not mine to dispense. 

You’d better believe, I wish that I had such powers – I would gladly help all the nice folks in need.

As I wrote above, I can offer guidance such as all the many pages I have posted in this website which is the result of many years working in real estate and for those who are buying in my self-imposed real estate area of business in north Atlanta, I also can help directly, if you do not an agent working with you.

Best of luck, JC

JC Fagundes, Head Broker
EQUAL SERVICE TO ALL.
Residential. Commercial. Investments.
Ph: 404 801 4141