Real Estate Live

Washington, DC — August 22, 2008
By: Maryann Haggerty and Elizabeth Razzi, WashingtonPost.com

Northeast D.C.: I am looking to buy a home. But I needed a little help with the down payment. Do you know of any programs that I can look into that will help with a down payment?

Maryann Haggerty: In tomorrow's Real Estate section, we have an article on the current state of the down payment, including a box listing many local down payment assistance programs. I don't know if that link is up yet on the Web. But it will be by this evening. We're listing mostly government programs, but some of the housing nonprofits can help too.

However, the new housing legislation is closing down the down payment assistance programs that were financed by home sellers through organizations such as Nehemiah and Ameridream. Unless they manage to overturn that in some way, those programs go out of biz Oct. 1.

Elizabeth Razzi: Don't forget to ask about FHA-insured mortgages. You can get them from many participating lenders. They still require down payments of as little as 3 to 5 percent. That's still a lot of cash in our area, but check it out.

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For additional information, please contact Shelley Mitchell, smitchell@nehemiahcorp.org, 916-231-1999.

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