Upbeat Home & Real Estate The Mortgage Coach W


aiting for the next power


outage, lis-


tening to the thump of acorns and the whistling winds usher October out, I am thankful November is coming. Novem- ber is my thankful month.


The holi-


days are around the corner, and another year comes to an end.


If buying your


first home is on your wish list for 2019, the clock is ticking. The first and hardest step, is gathering the down payment. Not everyone has a wealthy relative, will- ing to donate that down pay- ment. Hope comes with down payment assistance offered through California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA).


Down Payment Assistance! by Barry O'Meara of Santa Rosa, CA • barryo@stearns.com


CalHFA, has helped


first-time homebuyers for over 40 years. Established in 1975, CalHFA was cre- ated as California’s afford- able housing bank. The low-interest rate programs are funded through tax-exempt bonds, making CalHFA a completely self- supporting State agency.


Re-paid by revenue gener-


ated through mortgage loans, these bonds don’t use tax- payer dollars. With CalHFA, prospective buyers get down-payment assistance through silent sec- onds. A silent second is a lien against your home with no payment due until the first mortgage is paid off, you


sell, or refinance the home. Buyers can use multiple loan programs, layered in a way to cover both down payment and closing costs. When all the layers of financing are put together, the buyer moves into a home with no money down. Each of the loan programs are designed for first time home- buyers. When it comes to seconds, is


there a whole menu to


choose from. The first loan is CalHFA Cal Plus. This is a 30- year fixed loan. Because this loan is funded through Cal- HFA bond program, it is not subject to Loan Level Pricing Adjustments (LLPA), used to price traditional Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The Fannie and Freddie loans have pricing adjustments that would typically price a buyer


with lower credit scores and higher loan-to-value (which determines interest rates) out of the market. CalPLUS ZIP is down-pay- ment assistance which can lend you 3% of the purchase price at zero interest, and no monthly payments. The loan is deferred until you sell, pay- off the first, or refinance. Another down-payment


assist is CalHFA MyHome 2nd. CalHFA MyHome 2nd will lend 3.5% of purchase price with simple interest, no monthly payments, and de- ferred payment until either the first loan is paid off, or the property is sold or refinanced. The current simple interest for this program is 2.5%. Simple interest means the interest is not compounded.


Accumu-


lated interest depends on how long the loan is outstanding. These loan programs have income limits set for each county. Sonoma Counties an- nual income limit is $184,700, Lake and Mendocino Coun- ties is $128.300, and for Ma- rin the limit is $228,300. For first-time homebuy- ers who work in the K-12 school system, there is the School Program.


Teachers,


Administrators, and Classi- fied Employees are eligible. This program was limited to low performing schools, but now is open to all schools, including Charter Schools. The program will lend up to 4% of either the sales price or appraised value, whichever is lower. Monthly payments for


Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 4


Urban legend has it that Boston's difficult-to-navi- gate streets are paved cow paths. While some streets are paved over cow paths, most of the streets follow the original coastline of Boston Proper before the city expanded over 1,000 acres during the landfill projects in the 19th century, giving them their seemingly strange pattern.


The Boston Fire Department (1678) is the oldest in the United States.


The name "Chicago" comes from the French interpreta- tion of the Native American word for "striped skunk," which was also the name given to the wild onions that grew near the Chicago river.


the second are deferred until the property is sold, or refi- nanced.


The MyHome and Schools Program can be combined with ZIP program, allowing the buyer to finance both the down payment and closing costs.


When saving for a down pay- ment seems impossible, and your family tree doesn’t have any rich branches showering you with down-payments, CalHFA is here to help. You can review all programs at http://www.calhfa.ca.gov/


Pg 26 • NOVEMBER 2019 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


"A beautiful plant is like having a friend around the house." ~ Beth Ditto


B. O’Meara


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