h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A week or so ago, I learned of a new program here in Del Norte County (thanks to me being subscribed to our realtor's blog). It is the Down Payment Assistance Program. It's for low-income first-time homebuyers. The maximum loan is $60,000, to be used for down payment and/or closing costs. It doesn't need to be repaid for 30 years, or until you resell your home--and the interest rate is 0%.

Needless to say, it caught my attention.

I emailed F to find out where to go for more information and for paperwork, and off I went. Turns out there's a waiting list that the lady takes 2 at a time from, and then the people have 10 days to get the paperwork in. We're number 9, and the first 2 people had just been contacted. So I'd say we've a month-month and a half to wait. (I was told that they'd continue to contact people on the list until they ran out of either people or funds--and that there should still be funds when they got to us.) You have to have good enough credit that you can get a mortgage--which is no problem, since we're already pre-qualified, and Tom's credit is extremely good. We're also well below the income limit for the program. So, barring something totally unforeseen, we should fit this program well--it's just a matter of waiting our turn.

In anticipation of this, I had F adjust the automatic-listing-sender-outer-thingy to go up to what our new limit would be, and there's lots more houses to choose from

That does sound like a fantastic opportunity. And by now, you've pretty much mastered thew art of 'waiting' ...

Good luck, Amy, or Myopia Walks, or whatever yoiu will be when you read this.

That sounds like an opportunity not to be missed, Amy. I hope you can find something soon

I just wonder if it's 10 normal days or 10 business days for each spot on the list... 10 normal days could have us looking at houses before Christmas, while 10 business days comes to about mid-January. I suppose I could call and ask at some point here.

Normally, I would think it would be 10 business days, ... two common weeks. But with such an offer, and the numbers of people that will be hoping, I'd not be surprised if it IS calendar days. A follow-up call might be a good idea.

Turns out I got a *little* ahead of myself... Once paperwork and all that is finished, it'd more likely be summertime by the time we can use this program.

In related news, remember that house that we were competing with other bidders for, and lost? It's still in the paper and on Realtor.com. I've emailed F to point this out and ask if she has any idea why. Considering the wonderful communication from the other end during the bidding, I'm not holding my breath for an answer

Would you like me to help by holding my breath for you?