Spring ‘breaks’ for first-time home buyers

This year, daylight savings time begins March 9. Easter Sunday is March 23. Spring 2008 may be lining up as a favorable time for first-time homebuyers to realize their dream of homeownership in the Spokane region.

One of the anticipated rites of spring alongside milder weather is the traditional arrival of brightly colored “For Sale” signs popping up in area neighborhoods. For early-bird first-time buyers who want to plan ahead while the snow melts, there are several Washington State Housing Finance Commission-sponsored homebuyer education seminars taking place in Spokane, between now and Easter Sunday.

The WSHFC seminars are designed to help low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers purchase their first home. Think you over qualify? Not so fast. Surprisingly, one- and two-person households earning up to $60,000 and three-plus-person households earning up to $70,000 may qualify for “House-Key State Bond” interest programs sponsored by WSHFC that offer reduced-rate fixed 30-year and 40-year first mortgage loans.

How Do I Get Started?

1. You must first attend a free home buyer education seminar. It will provide you with the steps to buy your first home. You will receive a certificate upon completion of the class, valid for two years. This will be a requirement of your loan process.

2. Contact a Commission-trained loan officer to determine the loan for which you qualify. They can find the right loan type that will work with the program. They also know the required income and acquisition cost limits.

3. Once you know how much you qualify for, it is time to look for a home. Your REALTOR® and lender will work with you to locate and finance a home of your own. Program requirements allow for home purchases in Spokane County up to $230,000, and in some targeted areas, up to $250,000. Note: You must plan to own the home for nine or more years or forfeit a portion of the gain on any sale occurring before the minimum allowed time of ownership.

Do I Qualify?

•1. If you’ve attended and obtained a certificate from a Commission-sponsored home buyer education seminar within the last two years; and

•2. If you are a first-time home buyer, defined as someone who has not owned and occupied a primary residence at any time in the past three years and

•3. If you meet the program income and acquisition cost limits listed; and

•4. If you meet with a House-Key trained loan officer and determine that you qualify for a mortgage loan according to FHA, VA, Rural Housing Services (RHS), or conventional loan standards, then you may qualify!

Even if you are not a first-time home buyer, you may still participate if you purchase in some of Spokane’s targeted areas.

Further, be sure to inquire about four additional programs to help many with the down payment and closing costs:

•1. House Key Plus is a second mortgage program for qualified borrowers to receive additional funds for down payment and closing costs, up to $7,500.

•2. House Key Schools is a second mortgage program for teachers and employees of community or technical colleges and K-12 public or private schools to receive additional funds up to $10,000.

•3. House Key Veterans is a second mortgage program for veterans who have served our country to receive additional funds up to $10,000.

•4. Home Choice is a second mortgage program for qualified borrowers who have a disability or a family member with a disability living with them to receive additional funds up to $15,000.

Where and When are Seminars?

The seminar schedule from Monday, Feb. 25 through Saturday, April 5 is posted online. For reservation information and who to contact, go to www.wshfc.org/buyers/schedule.asp, and scroll down to “Spokane.”

Maintaining affordable homeownership has surprising benefits for our region. There are many reasons beyond economics to promote homeownership, says Glenn Crellin, executive director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. “Research that has been done over the years has clearly indicated that those persons who are home buyers are much more engaged in their community,” he said. “Everything from voting rates being higher to volunteerism, taking an interest in the children’s schoolwork — those things are all interconnected in a way that is often surprising and independent of any other socioeconomic factors.”

The WSHFC House-Key Homeownership program uses the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds to provide first-time home buyers the benefit of a lower interest rate. Those interested in more information may go online to www.wshfc.org for full details.