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Young mother excited about becoming a new homeowner
Courtney Bennett recently realized her dream of homeownership and received the keys to her new home in Nevada, Mo. This dream was made possible to her through the cooperation of several partners in the community. Courtney contacted local realtor, Diane Earll, of McCaffree Real Estate, who has been working with a local builder, James McKenzie of McReed Construction.
McKenzie has been purchasing lots in the community and building homes.
Earll was familiar with the Rural Development loan programs and sent Courtney to the local USDA office in Butler. Bennett is very excited and appreciative of the hard work that was done by all to make this dream a reality, a press release from the USDA said.
Through Rural Devel-opment's Direct Housing Loan Program, low income and very low income individuals and families may obtain 100-percent financing to obtain homeownership.
Eligible applicants can purchase an existing dwelling, purchase a site and construct a dwelling, or purchase a newly-constructed dwelling in rural areas. The purpose of the loan is to provide financing at reasonable rates and terms with no down payment. Mortgage payments are based on the household's adjusted income. These loans are commonly referred to as Section 502 Direct Loans. Applications for this program are made directly to a USDA Rural Development office.
"Homebuyers should take a close look at USDA Rural Development's direct housing program," said Greg Branum, Missouri State Director. "Nearly 1,500 Missouri households have benefited from this excellent program in the last year."
Some of the benefits to this program include: no down payment required, some or all of the closing may be included in the loan, Private Mortgage Insurance is not required, the note interest rate is fixed, real estate taxes and insurance are escrowed and included as part of the monthly payment and payment assistance to qualified applicants may reduce the effective interest rate, thus reducing the monthly payment.
This payment assistance benefit has the potential of making the homeownership monthly payments being actually less than rent payments for some applicants.
Eligibility for this program is to individuals or families who meet certain eligibility criteria. Some of the criteria includes: must be considered low income, be a U.S. citizen, use the home to be purchased as the primary residence, be of legal age to incur a loan obligation, must have good credit history, must have repayment ability, not able to obtain credit through a conventional lender and the home to be purchased must be in a rural area. Those interested in the program are encouraged to contact the USDA Rural Development office for specifics on all the eligibility criteria.
Anyone seeking more information about homeownership financing or any other USDA Rural Development program may visit the homepage at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/mo/ or by contacting Carol Platt, Rural Development Specialist, at carol.platt@mo.usda.gov by e-mail, or by contacting the Butler Local Office at 625 W. Nursery, Box A, Butler, Missouri 64730 or calling (660) 679-6114, extension 4. Anyone interested in purchasing a new home may contact Diane Earll, of McCaffree Real Estate, (417)667-3311.