Hey y'all-
Am seriously considering to buy a home, and also this would be in NJ. Very big shift of mindset over the last couple yrs- if you asked me 3 years ago I'd be like absolutely no way would I or could I ever buy a home. Rent, geographic arbitrage, thru-hike, and vanlife was what I saw. I moved back to a city I like and do want to put down a sort of homebase. I started educating myself however along with seeing a couple of friends get evicted from their places so the owners could tear them down and build condos- I didn't want that to happen to me, and wanted to be able to have a place for friends to stay (don't in my tiny apt, or in other places I've rented).
I just barely qualified for an IDA savings program/grant- will match up to $2k 2:1. So I'll have $6k minimum ready in a few months from that- but hopefully a good deal more.
I found out about a lot of down payment assistance programs as well- grants and second mortgages. It's been SO hard to get more than basic info but I am finally starting to piece together some stuff. I'm really hoping I can combine some of these programs- any one here have any experiences with these sort of programs in NJ?
Programs:
All the BoA ones (probably not going to do- I wasted several hours trying to get answers out of them and really couldn't find too much out, other than they wanted me to get pre-approved right away. I'm months if not a year or two out from that)
1. NJHMFA (mortgage program, and forgivable DPA loan after 5 yrs)
2. Fed Loan Home Bank of NY (straight up grant; still haven't been able to find out if everyone gets the full amount, or it's just a %
3. County programs (very unclear if this is in addition, or just the same as NJHMFA
4. Other misc stuff which is seeming like no, but who knows.
PA/Philly has programs too but it really seems like I have better options for the areas that I'd consider in NJ.