Programs to Help Miami Residents Afford Homeownership

Improving your credit score requires a lot of work over a long period of time, so most people do not do it merely for bragging rights.  Someone out there loves attention enough that they might tweet the number “700” to everyone they know on Twitter, just to rub it in their online friends’ faces that the publicity hound has a credit score of 700, while most people who follow said publicity hound on Twitter do not.  For the rest of us, however, the true goal of credit repair is to be able to borrow money to buy something we really want, and that something is usually a house, the very definition of generational wealth.  Real estate is so expensive, though, that, unless you were born into wealth, there is no guarantee that you will be able to save enough to place a down payment on a home and qualify for a home mortgage.  Miami-Dade County has some programs to make the path to homeownership easier for low-income and middle-income families.  To get into a financial situation where you can qualify for Miami-Dade County’s Affordable Home Ownership Program, contact a Miami debt lawyer.

The Public Housing and Community Development Affordable Homeownership Program

The Miami-Dade office of Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD) offers the Affordable Homeownership Program provides low interest loans with deferred payment terms that participants may use as second mortgages or sources of down payment funding when purchasing a real estate property in Miami-Dade County to use as their primary residence.  The program has strict eligibility requirements, but if you qualify, you can borrow up to $80,000 for a second mortgage and up to $35,000 as a down payment assistance loan.  These are some of the eligibility criteria:

• You must be a U.S. citizen or have a green card
• Your credit score must meet certain requirements
• You must have been working in the same industry for the past 24 months, but not necessarily for the same employer (for example, it is fine if you started your job as an assistant manager at McDonald’s six months ago, but for several years leading up to that, you worked at Starbucks, eventually getting promoted to assistant manager)
• Your annual household income is between 30 percent and 140 percent of the area median income for Miami-Dade County (as of 2023, that means between $27,900 and $130,060 for a family of three and between $40,280 and $167,720 for a family of six)
• The primary mortgage must have a 30-year fixed rate repayment term
• The property can be a single-family home, townhouse, duplex, or condominium

Before you apply, make sure your finances are in order.  This may include strategies such as checking your credit report or debt consolidation, among others.

Work With a Debt Lawyer About Qualifying for a Home Mortgage

A South Florida debt lawyer can help you sort out your finances so that you can qualify for an affordable home mortgage.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Miami, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

miamidade.gov/global/housing/affordable-homeownership-program.page