Help for home buyers amidst turmoil of state's market
By Theresa Parker
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12:01 a.m. PT Sep 4, 2007
When you read today’s headlines about the mortgage industry, it’s easy to assume that it’s all doom and gloom.
Interest rates are rising, the stock market is on a roller coaster ride and thousands of homeowners are facing challenges with their adjustable rate mortgage. The news is certainly unsettling for anyone who is considering buying a home.
However, amid the tumult of the market, the state of California offers a unique program that helps people get into their first home — and comes with protection to help borrowers stay in the home.
Since 1975, the California Housing Finance Agency has been playing a key role in helping Californians purchase their first homes. CalHFA has invested more than $14 billion in nontaxpayer funds to help more than 146,000 California families live in a home of their own with a mortgage they can afford.
CalHFA offers 100 percent financing with low, fixed interest rates, down payment and closing cost assistance to help make home ownership a realistic possibility. Our loan products include a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a 35-year mortgage where the first five years include payments of only the interest, and a 40-year mortgage.
And for the last two years, all of CalHFA’s standard loans include something more — protection to help borrowers keep their homes in the event they lose their jobs.
CalHFA’s HomeOpeners, a mortgage protection program in partnership with Genworth Mortgage, may pay as much as $2,500 for up to six payments during unemployment for the first five years of the loan.
The benefit, which is subject to certain restrictions, can include principal, interest, insurance and tax payments. The CalHFA HomeOpeners mortgage protection becomes effective 60 days after loan closing and adds no additional cost to the borrower’s mortgage or mortgage insurance.
HomeOpeners puts home buyers at ease in this unsteady time because they know they can stay in their home — even if they suffer temporary unemployment.
CalHFA’s down-payment assistance includes a variety of special programs, including initiatives for teachers, the disabled and those living in high-cost counties.
Even in the best of circumstances, buying a home can be a difficult undertaking.
But with a little extra research, first-time home buyers can find resources to help them meet the challenge of today’s market. There are many state and local programs whose sole goal is making sure the dream of homeownership stays alive for all Californians.
Theresa Parker is executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency. For more information, visit www.calhfa.ca.gov.
