Attention FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS! FROM NOW UNTIL April 30, 2010 (Contract must be signed by), First TIME home buyers can recieve an $8000 tax credit. Call for details. It's easy, if you pay $8000 in income taxes (can be less, but that's your credit), you will get a credit in when you file. AND you don't have to pay this one back!
Also extended to upgrade buyers with a credit of $6500. New home must be primary home and your primary home you will have lived in five consecutive years out of the last 8.
Call for more details!
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Here are a couple of great programs for first time home buyers in Flagstaff:
Bothands
Bothhands stands for Building Opportunity Through Housing And Neighborhood Development Services. Bothands offers down payment assistance, education workshops, counseling and affordable home selling. Bothands vision: "Our Vision is that all Flagstaff residents will have access to safe, decent and affordable housing with an opportunity for upward mobility."
Homebuyer Assistance
Home ownership is important for families as a home typically represents a family's largest asset and helps provide stability and financial security. Home ownership also impacts our community as a whole: crime rates are lower in neighborhoods with high owner-occupancy, turnover in the business community is reduced and it is easier to recruit additional businesses to relocate to Flagstaff when home ownership is attainable.
BOTHANDS has programs to help first-time homebuyers reach their home ownership goals. In addition to providing homebuyer education and one-on-one counseling to prospective homebuyers, BOTHANDS provides financial assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers through our programs.
Community Homebuyers Assistance Program
The Community Homebuyers Assistance Program, or CHAP, is funded by the City of Flagstaff and administered by BOTHANDS. The 2009 contract allows BOTHANDS to distribute a total of $260,000 to first-time Flagstaff homebuyers earning less than 125% of the Area Median Income (click link below for the 2009 AMI Guidelines) for down payment and closing cost assistance. $80,000 of that amount is reserved for clients purchasing an affordable unit in a city project like RIO Homes. A maximum of $20,000 for down payment and a maximum of $5,000 for closing cost assistance will be awarded to qualified household to assist them in purchasing their first home. Funds will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to prepared clients. Funding is gap funding to fill the gap between what the client can afford and the price of the home.
Availability of CHAP Funds:
Approximately $60,000 of funds set aside for first-time home buyers earning less than 80% of the area median income purchasing city-run affordable homes remains unreserved. City-run affordable homes include RIO Homes and Izabel Homes.
Individual Development Accounts
Offered to clients earning less than 80% of the AMI, the Individual Development Account, or IDA, Program is designed to help low-income households achieve economic self-sufficiency through goal savings. Qualified clients open a special IDA Savings account at one of our partner banks, Wells Fargo, First State Bank and National Bank of Arizona, and must make a monthly contribution of $25 - $500 over a period not shorter than 10 months and not longer than 3 years. Clients who reach their savings goal (maximum $5,000) and use their savings for down payment on their first home will have their savings matched 3 to 1 (maximum $15,000), increasing their down payment and purchasing power. This match is provided by the Federal Home Loan Bank through National Bank of Arizona. If clients meet the AFI requirement on the income guidelines, they are eligible for an additional $4,000 from Assets for Independence, United Way of Northern Arizona and the City of Flagstaff.
Signing up for the IDA Program:
Call our office to make an appointment with Carmen Johnson to discuss the IDA program, determine eligibility and sign up.
Availability of IDA Funds:
Funds are currently available.
Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership
Similar to the IDA Program, Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership, or WISH, is available for clients under 80% AMI and provides a 3 to 1 match, maximum of $15,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank through National Bank of Arizona, for clients using their savings for down payment on a first home purchase. WISH clients, however, do not need to save their contribution, up to $5,000, over any specific period of time or in a special account.
Utilizing WISH funds:
Call our office to make an appointment with Carmen Johnson to discuss the WISH program, determine eligibility and sign up.
Availability of WISH Funds:
Funds are currently available.
BOTHANDS Process
Once the client presents the Good Faith Estimate and Purchase Contract to BOTHANDS, counselors will verify that requirements have been met and advise the client of next steps. All down payment assistance clients and loans must be approved through BOTHANDS Underwriting committee. Once a client has met all requirements, their file will be taken to committee for approval. Only after committee approval will BOTHANDS present the client with an award letter with a commitment of funds.
For more info contact:
Bothands
www.bothands.org (copy and paste link, the sites link doesn't always work, so if you get a site not found hit refresh until you get the site, not sure why???)
928.214.7456
2304 N. Third Street
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
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