“it’s official” yada yada… lot’s of noise about this on the ‘tubes in recent weeks, but Obama has officially signed off on everything. I’ve yet to confirm if the FHA will continue to allow buyers to monetize this credit [on FHA approved condos] in order to use it as a down payment. If so, that makes this program even more attractive.
The chart below is helpful in clearly outlining what’s available and changing.
My point is that anyone that can’t come up with down payment funds probably shouldn’t be buying. Taking the government’s money (actually our money but I digress) to sweeten the deal is fine but if you can’t make it without the credit then you really shouldn’t be buying. There are some killer rental deals out there right now.
No, irresponsible people + irresponsible banks created the bubble.
Onerous lending guidelines and the collapse of several banks have filtered out many of the troublemakers. The lending markets are so tight that responsible people with FICO scores over 740 cannot get mortgages b/c FNMA can require 20% down payment.
The problem now is that is TOO hard to get a mortgage for the average Joe. This small incentive will help stabilize the housing market in many parts of the country, which is good for the economy and responsible families.
You understand that incentivizing people into buying houses they can’t afford is exactly what got us into this mess. Guess I’ll know who to blame when the next real estate bubble bursts.