[RyanNicholson]

New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority

Anybody here worked with them? or an organization like them? Pretty much my biggest goal in life for a long time has been to own my own home....this was my plan before I got into racing haha.

I've talked briefly with someone that went through them and they basically got a sweet deal from what I gathered, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them about it too much.

Whats the catch?

[ZX-12R]

I went through their program when I bought my house in Jan '07. They have a few different options depending on your situation but there are certain income and house price requirements depending on the area you are in.

All the programs typically allow you to have a small or 0% down payment in addition to an interest rate that is about 0.5% below the going rate for the area. The plan I used allowed me to lower my rate by an additional 0.5% by paying a point but I had to put 5% down on the house. At the time, the going interest rate was 6.525% which NH housing knocked down to 6.025% and by paying the point I locked in at 5.525% fixed for 30 years.

The income limits that they post are for 1-2 people so if you are not married and you are buying the house with your credit only, then only your income counts towards the limit. I was fortunate enough to have a 780ish credit score which allowed me to finance the house in my name only. My income was just under the limit for 1-2 people and had I been married at the time the combined income would have disqualified me from the program (I closed 2 weeks before I got married).

Your best bet is to find a mortgage broker that can write NH housing loans and go over your options with them as there are plenty more that were not applicable to my financial situation but could possibly be beneficial to you. If you don't have a broker picked out, shoot me a PM and I'll give you the contact info for the guy I went through. He spent a considerable amout of time with me going over all of my options and was extremely helpful throughout the entire process.

[RyanNicholson]

very cool.

this isn't something I'm ready to do yet, but I was curious about it. I'd like to have a place in the next 2 or 3 years....for now I'm just looking at how to go about it and make sure I'm in a position to accomplish that goal.

[skiierx]

2-3 years down the road is very hard to narrow down what type of loan product to use as they can change parameters or eliminate the product completely. I am not familiar with the NH version of this loan but most states have them. The big thing to ask about is the recapture clause (most are 9 years), this clause charges you a fee should you sell the house prior to the 9 years. Other than that they can be very good loans. The best loan right now other than the one you ask about it FHA as the government does not care about depreciating markets.

One word of advice I can give anyone who is looking to prepare to buy a house is to get your credit in order now. Make sure your score is good and if not, work on improving it. High credit scores really make a world of difference these days for everything from your interest rate to your down payment.

Good luck on making your purchase plans

[RyanNicholson]

Originally Posted by skiierx

One word of advice I can give anyone who is looking to prepare to buy a house is to get your credit in order now. Make sure your score is good and if not, work on improving it. High credit scores really make a world of difference these days for everything from your interest rate to your down payment.

Good luck on making your purchase plans

thats part of my plan over the next couple years....improve credit. It isn't horrible, but there are a few loose ends that need to be tied up and debt that I'm working hard to minimize.

Thanks for the tips. seems like a pretty legit idea to keep in mind.