“[Buying a house with downpayment assistance] has got me a lot of financial stability … I think financially it was the best thing for me.”
–Mrs. Fredrick, Sacramento
I pay taxes, I have good credit, and I have a stable job. Because my wife and I intentionally working in fields for the greater good of others, accepting less money
than we could find elsewhere, we do not have the means to have the
"American Dream" without some financial help. I'm not asking for a free
ride by any means. We have been saving for 4 years to be in this position. I agree that there should be guidelines, parameters, and accountability for receiving money. But, I also believe that those of us who meet that criteria deserve a shot at the life that we deserve and work so hard for.
I am 35-year-old working professional. Being single, owning no home and having no children, I almost feel like I am being punished. How can one in this position save for a downpayment on a home when we are taxed at near 40% because of our lack of ownership or marriage? Eliminating DPA will have such a negative impact on jobs and new homeowners. This program may need amending BUT not elimination.
Please don't punish us single young professionals for doing the right thing!
Downpayment assistance provides an opportunity for borrowers who can afford a mortgage payment but don't have the downpayment to get the process started. My wife and I are two such people who are hurt without the DPA program.
Helping people become homeowners adds to the tax base, improves communities, allows children to attend better schools and helps people gain wealth through the equity in their home.
My husband and I have been so excited about building our new house. We
are hard-working, middle-class citizens. We qualified for DPA, but our
house will not be ready until mid to late October. We are now watching our hopes and dreams go up in smoke. What was promised to us when we financed in May is not being ripped away from us.
I am a single mother of two who has always struggled to make ends meet,
but have done so with no government aid or mooching off of anyone. I've worked since I was 15 years old and have always paid my debts and continue to do so, so why should I be denied the American Dream? The government can bail out major mortgage & financial institutions with taxpayer's money, but say "oh, too bad" to the taxpayers who are truly trying to have a better life, and just have a home. We need downpayment assistance.
Please extend the program! I was just approved for an FHA loan two weeks ago and now it seems I will have to wait even longer to become a homeowner. I have worked very hard to get my credit in good standing to become a first time homeowner. And when I was approved for the loan, I thought my dream was finally going to become a reality.
Ms Fulton is an African American. She lives in Baltimore City and was
buying a home in Baltimore City. She is a 39 year old single mom. She
makes too much to qualify for housing assistance, but was utilizing a seller
down payment assistance program to help with the down payment... She
makes $55,000 per year, but can't save enough money to buy a home with the
cost of kids and living today.
Unfortunately, her realtor and I had to meet with her yesterday morning
to inform her that the ratified contract that she received on her dream
home was not going to happen.
We purchased our home in January 1999. Without the help of the Nehemiah Program I am sure we would still be living in an apartment or rental home. With rental costs so high it is next to impossible to meet living costs and save the 5% required for a down payment on a home.
It's a simple and to-the-point story: without the Nehemiah Program, our family would still be paying high rental payments on a property not even worth the money it cost. Rental properties are overpriced as are most things; however, we are now paying an extra $168.00 per month and it's an investment in our futures.
As a single mother of two daughters, both handicapped (one deaf, retarded, and epileptic, the other bi-polar depressive), owning my own home was a dream not ever to realize.
I am the single mother of three wonderful boys. I work very hard to provide them with opportunities and education as a base on which they can build happy and productive lives. It is very difficult for us to save money, as even most of the money from my second job is used to pay for necessities. There is simply no way I could have saved enough money for the down payment on my home. The three-bedroom condominium we now own gives me a sense of security and stability I never had while renting. (And no apartment complex would allow me to paint my younger sons' room purple!)
My husband and I both had a ton of equity in a home we owned over 4 years ago, until our home flooded out of the blue and our equity was quickly taken away from us and we went negative on our home! From that point on, we had to start over. It has taken us 4 long years to financially overcome the burdens placed on us that day of the flood. We had to completely rebuild our credit slowly with our finances meeting what we had to meet. We did not have extra money to save for the purchase of a home. Our 3 children and day to day expenses didn’t allow for that!!
It was when I was pregnant with my first child that my husband and I began to discuss buying a home. He was playing in the NFL but was being signed and let go frequently, so our income was somewhat unstable. We moved when necessary, but both hoped to settle down and build roots. It was a different lifestyle than I was used to, being both born and raised in San Diego.
When I first learned about downpayment assistance I was living in a pre-war apartment and paying roughly $465 a month for rent and all utilities. At that time, I knew I was throwing away money by renting and knew that if I could save some money and purchase a home, I would be making a smart financial decision.
When I heard about downpayment assistance, I was living in a basement unit in Section 8 housing with my four children. I knew it was time to get out when my eldest son, then 17, was robbed by a group of kids in our neighborhood for his tennis shoes. He had also started falling in with the wrong crowd and getting into fights.
In 2004 I was living in an apartment in Stone Mountain, GA with my son Ty and I had been teaching for three years. I was paying about $800 a month for rent. Not many people I knew owned homes and the concept of being a home-owner seemed completely out of the question for me. I had no savings and always believed I would need thousands of dollars for a downpayment.
