TRIP's HomeOwnership Center can help answer some of your questions, and help you to generate more of your own.
Some good starting questions to ask yourself are:
What am I waiting for? A bill to be paid? Prices of houses to come down? Credit problems? Do I have enough money saved? How does the home buying process work?
How soon are you looking to purchase? 3 months? 1 year? 2 years?
What geographic area would you like to purchase a home? City of Troy, outside of Troy, outside of Rensselaer County?
Am I eligible for grant assistance? What does that mean?
TRIP offers counseling and education to potential home buyers regardless of income and geographic location.
What's your first step?
Attending a Homebuyer Orientation! At our orientation, we go over our programs, so you will better understand the qualifications and requirements for our down payment assistance programs as well as what's involved in the home buying process.
Check our Calendar of Events for the next scheduled Orientation!
Then contact the HomeOwnership Center at 690-0020 x221 or e-mail register@triponline.org with questions or to register.
And then what?
After attending a Homebuyer Orientation, you will need to schedule a one-on-one appointment with one of our counselors. At this appointment, you will be able to get an assessment of your mortgage readiness. This can include but is not limited to:
- approximately how much of a mortgage will a bank approve you for based on income;
- how much would that monthly mortgage payment be and how that fits with your monthly budget;
- would a bank approve you for a mortgage based on your credit history and current debts;
- are you income eligible for any down payment assistance;
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I'd like to see grant money available for home improvements or weatherization/energy efficiency. The available grants are not for the average person, income cut offs unrealistic to survive. Banks won't lend for such purposes, they want you to refinance your entire mortgage so they can make even more money. You want to clean up the city, offer families affordable grants to renovate the vacant buildings into nice cozy homes putting them back on the tax roles.
ReplyDeleteWe do offer some grant funds for rehab at the time of purchase through our Rensselaer County Rehab Program: http://www.triponline.org/repair/grant_programs.html. Income limits are slightly higher than most programs.
ReplyDeleteNYSERDA: (http://www.getenergysmart.org/SingleFamilyHomes/ExistingBuilding/HomeOwner.aspx) has either subsidies or low interest financing for Weatherization/energy efficiency projects.