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October 30, 2023 14 mins

Join top real estate agent, Jill Paddock and mortgage expert Seanna Cormier from Guild Mortgage as they unravel the intricacies of down payment assistance programs. Whether you're a first-time buyer or looking for more affordable housing solutions, this episode sheds light on how these programs can propel you towards homeownership. Delve into various program structures, understand their impacts on interest rates, and discover how you can find the right fit for your home buying journey.

This episode was cast with Seanna Cormier, NMLS # 1433188 of Guild Mortgage company LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, Company NMLS # 3274. Guild Mortgage is not affiliated with Keller Williams, Keller Williams Southern Arizona, The Tom J Krieger Team, or Jill Paddock. If you have any mortgage or lending questions feel free to reach out: Seanna- 520.820.0560 | scormier@guildmortgage.net 

If you have real estate questions, reach out to Jill Paddock: 520.391.7529 | jill@thetjkteam.com 

Have questions about this podcast, topics, real estate or getting your real estate license? Reach out to us! podcast@thetjkteam.com  

Be sure to check out our website for more resources ⬇️

https://TheTJKTeam.com 

Keller Williams Southern Arizona 7400 N Oracle Rd #331 Oro Valley, AZ 85704

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today, we're talking about howwe are combating high interest
rates for first time buyers.
Let's get into it.
We're here today with SeannaCormier from Guild Mortgage.
Thanks for joiningus today, Sienna.
Thanks for having me, Jill.
We just had a podcast with Nicolefrom Pima Tucson IDA, and she

(00:21):
shared with us a little bitabout the new Lighthouse program.
Seanna, we'd like to talkwith you today a little
bit about that, as well asother down payment programs.
Awesome.
Thanks Okay, so can you startby talking to us a little
bit about what exactly isdown payment assistance?
So down payment assistance isto help people get into homes.

(00:42):
So it helps provide affordablehousing for people who may not
have been able to save enoughmoney for a down payment or
may not have quite enough,um, may not have any money.
saved for a down payment, butstill help them be able to afford
housing and get into a homewithout having to come in with
a significant lump sum of cash.
Okay.

(01:02):
Awesome.
So it sounds like these programsthat are really meant for
somebody who has the desireto be a homeowner, has, you
know, stable income, but We allknow how hard saving that down
payment can be, so it gives themthat little jump start so they
can get into a house faster.
Exactly.
Um, and I mean, sometimes we useit to help cover closing costs,

(01:24):
too, so sometimes somebody mayhave had just saved enough, or
somebody may have just saved upjust enough to be able to have
their down payment, but they didn'tfactor in closing costs and maybe
we can't get the seller to agreeto pay their closing costs for them
and we need a little bit of help.
And so then we can bringin down payment assistance,

(01:45):
which can not just help withdown payment, but also help
with closing costs as well.
Okay.
So somebody who does have someof those funds, they can get that
little extra boost that they mightneed, um, so that they don't.
Clear out their savingsaccount, getting into a house.
Okay, so who exactly, or howare these programs created?
Are they like the samethroughout the country?

(02:06):
Are they?
So some programsare funded locally.
Some are like state programs.
Some are federal, someare county programs.
Um, their investors or theirfunds come from different sources
and um, Some of them are kind ofongoing available, other ones only
have that amount of money thatthey've got from their investors

(02:27):
to be able to give out as bonds.
Okay, so it sounds as thoughit's not going to be like
a one size fits all acrossthe country kind of thing.
You're really going to need totalk to a local expert in the area.
Betting that you probably knowsome people in other states that
you could help them out with?
I sure do.
Okay.
All right.
So if you need a littleinformation, you know,

(02:47):
if you're from Tucson orhere in Arizona, you know
absolutely we can help you out.
If not, Seanna can point youin the direction of someone
you can trust in your area.
For sure.
We'll make sure to have herinformation in the description.
Okay, so back to the, uh,downpayment assistance programs.
We just said that they'renot the same throughout the
country, so I'm assuming not alldownpayment assistance programs,

(03:10):
even in the same county, aregoing to be created equally.
I've seen things whereit talks about forgivable
and not forgivable.
What does that mean?
So most downpayment assistanceprograms are forgivable.
Um, the standard a while ago waslike a three year forgivable term.
So after three years, the amountthat was borrowed for those Uh,
or the assistance, the amountthat was borrowed for their down

(03:33):
payment or closing costs from theDown Payment Assistance Program,
um, will be completely forgiven.
If, for some reason, um, you sellbefore that three year period,
then you have to pay it back.
Some of them are prorated.
Some of them are you have toget through that full period.
There, so there's three year, mostof the time they're either three
year or a 30 year forgivable.

(03:55):
Then there's Also, non forgivable,and those ones are paid back
at, depending on the program,a certain percentage rate over
most of the time, 10 years.
Some of them take 30 years,um, but that would just be
something that's kind of bakedinto your payment, and it's part
of what you have to qualify foris being able to pay back that

(04:16):
down payment assistance as well.
So, yes, down paymentassistance is not for everybody.
Um, it's not.
always the best option.
Um, sometimes it is the bestoption and helps a lot of
people get into homes thatthey couldn't otherwise afford.
Okay.
Appreciate it.
That's a lot.
So it sounds like then whenyou're looking at down payment
assistance programs, you reallyneed to make sure you're asking

(04:40):
your loan officer the rightquestions and making sure
you're understanding the termsof the program you're using.
Correct.
Okay.
However, it also sounds like ifI got a down payment assistance
program, they gave me 3percent on a 300, 000 house.
I might get 9, 000 bucks thatI don't have to pay back.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
So just making sure thatwe understand the terms.

(05:00):
Um, and then how does thispayment, how does this
down payment assistanceimpact your interest rate?
When we had Nicole in here, therate that the Lighthouse program
is offering is phenomenal.
It's beating everything outthere pretty much right now.
Um, but again, I'm assumingthat's not always the same
for every, can you talk tous a little bit about rates?
Yeah, I would say most of the timewhen you're borrowing funds or

(05:24):
using a down payment assistanceprogram, the interest rate's
probably gonna ha be inflated,or not inflated, but higher than
what it would be if you weren'tusing down payment assistance.
Um, That's prettystandard across the board.
It's a higher risk becausethere's less the borrower.
The buyer has less skinin the game, right?
So there's a higher risk to it.

(05:46):
Um, little investment on their end.
And so those interest ratesdo tend to be a little bit
higher and most programs therethat they set the rate for
us, so they just set the rate.
Some of them are daily.
Lighthouse is different.
Um, this is a phenomenal program.
It's a fixed locked ininterest rate at that percent
and it's across the board.

(06:09):
Um, other programs have tiering.
So if you're borrowing a certainamount, um, because they allow
you to borrow anywhere fromzero, sometimes up to 5%.
Um, and however much youborrow, the interest rates
kind of increased by acertain amount, depending on
how much you're borrowing.
So the more you borrow, thehigher the interest rate is.

(06:31):
Okay.
That makes sense.
And then from the, of course,investor standpoint, the people
who are loaning this money,that makes sense too that you're
saying the person buying, theperson essentially owning the
house doesn't have as much tolose if they happen to default.
Um, so the investors are goingto look at as higher risk
and therefore higher rates.
But again, getting in a houseversus not that higher rate very

(06:54):
well might be worth it for sure.
Okay?
Um, so sometimesthey're actually better.
It's it's it moves around It'sreally kind of per the on the day.
So I most often tell my clientslike Right now, we're going to
game plan to use this program, butwhen you get in a contract, there

(07:14):
could be a different program thatmaybe works better at that time.
So really, just making sure thatyour loan officer knows your
situation, is looking out foryour best interest, and is going
to put you in the right productthat meets your goals and needs, I
think is the most important piece.
If you're sitting here listeningand this down payment assistant

(07:35):
sounds like it might be for you,go ahead and send us a message.
There's a link below.
We'll make sure to get you alist of the available programs.
Hey everyone, we want to interruptthis episode to let you know
that we are a Keller WilliamsSouthern Arizona franchise.
We are also RealtorsPracticing Equal Housing.
Now podcast.

(07:56):
So we've talked aboutlike federally funded,
locally funded programs.
But Sienna, I understandGILD has a few things that
maybe others can't offer.
We do, actually.
We've got a couple downpayment assistance programs.
Um, we've got a 1 percent downfor conventional financing.
And GILD will coverup to 5, 000 or 2%.

(08:18):
Um, for the rest of your downpayment because conventional
financing requires a threepercent down payment minimum.
Um, and then we also havean FHA zero down program.
So it's zero down, but there'sjust down payment assistance
that's helping cover in that threeand a half percent down payment.
Um, and that varies.
Between three and a half and 5%.

(08:41):
And then we also have our exclusivethree to one home plus program.
And this program, theborrower brings in their
3 percent down payment.
Um, guild will give you a 2, 000gift card to home Depot at closing.
And you will also get a, um.

(09:04):
Grant like a lender credit andthat varies anywhere from five
hundred to fifteen hundreddollars And that can be applied
towards your down payment or yourclosing costs And that variance
depends on a couple of differentfactors property type average
median income or area medianincome which is AMI which a lot

(09:27):
of these down payment assistanceprograms are they use that Number
to help guide them and qualifywho qualifies for those programs.
Okay So it sounds like guild has alot of great programs available as
well and figuring it out again It'sjust gonna come down to you having
a frank and upfront conversationwith your loan officer.
Absolutely.
Don't hold anything back Imean you can hold some stuff

(09:48):
back, but Let us know theimportance like what what really?
Matters to you so that we can helpget you into the right program.
That makes sense.
Okay So if somebody is listeningto all this and they're thinking
like these programs sound like theymight be for me or I might qualify
Or it's something I at least wantto just check out and see how

(10:10):
would they go about doing that?
How do you apply?
Um, you call me, um, or, or youcan go to my website and, uh,
we start with the application.
If I talk to you first, or I getyour contact information first,
I'll typically send you a directlink to start your application.
Mm-Hmm, . And then,um, I'll review it.

(10:30):
I'll review where your credit'sat, where your income's at.
I'll probably ask forsome documentation.
I'll understand what your goalsare, how much money we do have
to play with, how much moneywe potentially need in order
to make this dream happen.
Um, and then we'll game plantogether and we'll figure out
what makes the most sense.
Okay, so they can click onyour link below, go straight to

(10:52):
your website, and just go aheadand put the information in.
But if they want to have alittle quick conversation,
have a few questions first,you're happy to do that too.
Absolutely.
I actually prefer it that way.
I can tailor how I'm prequalifying you based on what
it is that you actually wantand what your goals are.
Okay.
But if you're listeningto us at, you know, 2 a.
m., maybe don't call her.

(11:12):
Just go ahead.
Yeah, don't call.
Go to the link.
Okay.
Or you can call,but I won't answer.
There you go.
That's true.
Okay.
So.
Now, we've talked aboutall the great things about
down payment assistance.
Is there a time where youwouldn't want to use down
payment assistance or is therekind of a downside to it?
Um, you know, we talkeda little bit about the
interest rates potentiallybeing a little bit higher.
So for a lot of my clientswhere maybe they have money, but

(11:36):
they're like, I'm a first timehomebuyer and I would rather
keep this money and use thisdown payment assistance program.
Um, I will side by side thoseoptions for them so that we can
really see what the benefit is.
Um, and maybe the interestrate's high and the payment's
higher than what they wantusing down payment assistance.
And in that case, I would probablyrecommend that they don't,

(11:57):
especially depending on theterm of that forgiveness, right?
Um, if they have their ownmoney and the term is a 30 year
forgiveness, it's, In my opinion,may not be the best option for
them because if they only planon being in the house for the
next five to seven years, maybemax, then they're going to have

(12:18):
to pay that money back anyways.
And if you have it now.
Why pay a higher interestrate just to borrow this
money that you have yourself?
Um, so that's a conversationthat we typically dive into
and, um, some people still optto do down payment assistance.
I would say for most peopleright now, The, um, sensitive

(12:39):
place is their monthly payment.
Right.
And so when you see that sideby side and see what you could
get, possibly using your ownfunds, that's a decision that
has to be weighed out andreally ultimately lies in the...
The client, the borrower's,the home buyer's decision.
No, that makes sense.
I mean, out with people,you know, I'm showing them
a house and then I'm like,Okay, we'll talk to Santa.

(13:01):
Here's what we can offer.
Let's, let's run the numbers.
The, the monthly paymentis, is definitely the
sticker shock at the moment.
So something like thatLighthouse program can really...
Bring some people back aroundand bring them, um, into a
more comfortable payment.
For sure.
Yeah, it can save, shave offa couple hundred dollars.
Um, with current interest rates.
That matters.
Yeah, it matters.

(13:21):
It's huge.
It is.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you for joiningus today talking to us about
down payment assistance.
Um, again, if you all haveany questions, feel free to
message us through the linkbelow and let us know if we can
get you any other information.
Thank you for listening andwatching the Nitty Gritty of Real
Estate podcast here with the Tom J.
Krieger team of KellerWilliams, Southern Arizona.
If you are interested in buyinga home, selling a home, or even

(13:43):
investing in real estate, we have5, 000 agents across the country
that we can connect you to.
If you need any freeresources, feel free to
check out our website at www.
thetjkteam.
com.
We hope you have a great day.
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