MN Down Payment Assistance Programs

As a first time home buyer, you are probably looking for assistance where you can pay a reduced amount for the potential property, or you will know exactly what to do to get your dream home in Minnesota. The MN Down Payment Assistance programs can provide you just that. The programs are designed to make home-buying easy and affordable for first-timers.

There are two types of MN Down Payment Assistance Programs: one is the Charity/Not-for-Profit 501c3, which can be utilized even for those who are not first-time home buyers, and the other one is purely for first-time home buyers.

The first type has to do with the seller’s contribution, which can be utilized as down payment assistance to the borrower, or as donation/charity. Such contribution should be equal to the gifted amount. An administrative fee will also be deducted based on this amount.

The contribution of the seller will simply be deducted from the proceeds and will be wired to the donation as reflected on the Not-for-Profit 501c3. This has a lot of issues that is why this program did not work well and was banned by the government in 2008.

The other type, which is exclusively for first time home buyers, has nothing to do with the seller’s contribution. A borrower can use one of these down payment assistance programs based on the qualifying family income.  The stipulated income differs according to the number of dependents and the median income in Minnesota, where you intend to purchase a home.

So the first requirement to qualify for the MN down payment assistance programs is to meet the median income of your location. Second, you must be able to qualify for a low interest mortgage loan as determined by the lender. And third, you should not have been an owner of a home for the past 3 years.

Even if you do meet the above requirements, there are other possible reasons why you still cannot use the MN down payment assistance programs. It could be because of:

  • default in government loan, whether current or history
  • presence of tax liens that are current
  • 24 month old discharge from bankruptcy
  • current unpaid child support
  • history of a foreclosed home

If you are currently planning to buy a home as a first-timer, you can ask your real estate agent about the MN Down Payment Assistance Programs. He can determine if you qualify and can help you process the purchasing of your home in Minnesota easily.

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