Things You'll Need:
- Financial ability to buy a foreclosed home
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Step 1
**Get the Basics**
If you're considering buying a foreclosed home, and you're working with a realtor, ask your agent about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. NPS is available in all states, but is not available everywhere in the state. It only operates in targeted areas where foreclosures are high. However, unlike many other grant programs, Neighborhood Stabilization grants are not restricted only to low income buyers -- medium income (middle class) families are also eligible to receive sizable assistance under this home-ownership program.
In a nutshell, the federal government, through the NSP, provides grants to state and local governments in order to help communities provide assistance in buying up foreclosed homes. Each community runs its NSP program differently. Some provide outright grants to home buyers for down payment assistance -- money that never has to be paid back -- while others provide very low interest loans.
Your real estate agent should be able to tell you if NSP funds are available in your community, and also fill you in on the details requirements for the program. -
Step 2
**Check the NSP Basics**
A link to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grants website is provided in the Resources section.
The link is a guide for local government officials, and is full of bureaucratic language, so don't be discouraged if it's hard to make sense of.
However, this page will provide the latest updates on the program. There are also links at this site to all the funding that is available. Look for 'Quick Links' to information on "NSP Local Government Allocations Summary" to see what funds have been provided in your community. Several files here are spreadsheets, so it helps to be familiar with these before trying to open the files. -
Step 3
**Get Local Information**
Do a Google search for the term 'neighborhood stabilization program', along with the name of your state, county, or city.
If a program is active in your area, your search should turn up information about how to apply, how much grant funding is available, and what the requirements are.
For instance, a link to one of the NSP program pages is included in Resources, directly below. You can see that assistance of up to $125,000 is available to help homebuyers with down payments on foreclosure properties. Even families with incomes of $100,000 or more can be eligible to receive the money.
Comments
JoyNmyHeart said
on 9/27/2009 As always, very informative and helpful. Thanks for the information that will hopefully help move me from renter to owner!
nethopperz said
on 6/24/2009 I had no idea that this was even available. I looked in my area and there are only 14 homes included in the NSP, but when I expanded my search, I found a lot more in nearby cities. Thank you for the good information.
betterbody said
on 5/5/2009 Good details on getting government money to help buy a foreclosed home. I've done this! It works. 5 *s
chava812 said
on 4/26/2009 Timely article - the NSP link was good and I was able to locate relevant websites in my own state! Great info there that was particular to the laws I have to deal with where my house is. Good stuff!