HR Block Tax Advisor i

The program does have household income limits and the home has to be located in a rural area or a USDA designated area. In addition to 100% financing, the USDA mortgage does not require monthly mortgage insurance.

If this not an option for you, your next best bet is an FHA loan with just 3.5% down required. The down payment can also be gifted to you by a family member.

See details at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=186831,00.html

Arizona just got 400 million dollars to offer first time homebuyer’s in this state.

5% GRANT never has to be paid back.

Can be used for down payment, pre-paids, closing costs.

Here is the info for Arizona.

http://www.welcome2arizona.com/home/first_time_homebuyer/first_time_homebuyer.php

Terry S.

http://www.Welcome2Arizona.com

mycommunity /homepossible is zero down with a slightly higher rate of around 7% for 30yr fixed

these 3 are all first time home buyer programs

You also mentioned some worries about being taken by a real estate agent. What you might want to consider is using what is called a buyer’s agent. Basically, it puts a real estate agent in your corner too. They will end up splitting the commission with the seller’s agent, so they do have some incentive to get you into a home that fits what you want and need.

In the meantime, make sure you are a great candidate for getting approval. A good place to start here is annualcreditreport.com, the official government website to receive a free credit history from all three major bureaus. You’ll want to check for public records, ie judgments, bankruptcies, and collections. If there are any, you’ll want to get those resolved, or be sure you have the documents you need to show they are taken care of. Beyond that, if you have balances on your credit cards, keep working at whittling those away. Be aware of what “assets” you have, things like checking or savings accounts, 401K, IRA, anything you can use to show you have the money to move ahead with this pruchase. Having all this information easily available to you will make the process go much more smoothly.

The real estate agent works off of commission. The seller pays that, but that means that the more you pay, the more they get. I’m not saying they are all crooks, I’m saying that you need to consider that when weighing their advice. You want to talk to them a while before shopping houses, you’re better off with one you feel comfortable driving around to strange places with, and who knows your tastes and budget and home needs.

The mortgage broker works for a lending company, and is selling a product. There are some really good people out there doing it, but there are some that think it’s just easy money. You want to shop around for one you can trust, and I suggest talking to at least three. It’ll take that much just to get used to the terminology. Don’t waste more than ten minutes with one if they aren’t asking you questions; there are more different programs than you can imagine, and to find out which one suits you, they need to be asking a lot of questions.

In case you don’t get an attorney, here’s two key points to make sure are in the offer you submit. 1) it has to be contingent on a home inspection. It’s one thing if they won’t FIX any problems, but there are some problems you don’t want to buy, or at least not be surprised by after closing 2) contingent on you getting financing; deals fall through at the last minute because of financing, you want to be able to get your money back.

Here’s one more thing to bear in mind that your realtor doesn’t want you to know, so don’t tell them you do know it:

If they accept your first offer, you offered too much.