How to Apply for a Federal Housing Grant Online

With the advent of the $8,000 tax credit, first-time home buyers are emerging in record numbers. With that, the need for down payment and closing cost assistance has risen to astonishing levels. There are numerous federal, state and local programs that are available to these individuals.

Instructions

1. Navigate to the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) website. This website contains valuable information for home buyers to include information about federal housing grant information. Navigate to the link that discusses down payment assistance programs.

2. Review the information about federal housing grants that is available on the HUD website. Remember that government grants are competitive, and just applying for a housing grant does not ensure that you will get one. The applications must be complete, well thought out and well written in order to obtain approval.

3. Begin the application process online by filling in the requested information on the website. The website will first ask for basic information such as name, current address, type of employment and various personal items.

4. Be prepared to provide information on your income and all sources of income and debt. Housing grants are not typically provided to individuals with a high debt-to-income ratio, meaning that they have more debt than income.

5. Add requested supplemental information that would prove you need a grant. Supplemental information should include medical notices, doctor's records and other proof of financial need to qualify for a grant. Need is assessed by extenuating circumstances that might have prevented you for saving at least 3 percent to put toward a home purchase, thus asking the government to subsidize this amount.

6. Add a personal statement to your application that would help to prove your need. Type this in a word processing program prior to submitting it online to check for spelling or grammatical errors.Once you have written a persuasive statement, copy and paste it into your online application.

7. Review all of your application information before you submit it for review to HUD. Ensure that the information is accurate and complete. Once you have verified this, you are ready to submit your application.

8. Submit your application to HUD for review. Due to all of the applications that they receive on a daily basis, it will be at least four to six weeks before you hear back in regard to your grant application. The majority of the communication received from HUD will come via regular mail, so watch your mailbox for the latest information.

9. Set your appointment with a HUD counselor after you have received your appointment letter. Bring all pertinent documentation with you that you submitted online to validate and back up your file.

10. Be prepared to wait at least two additional weeks for the HUD counselor to review all of your documentation and render a decision. Once this is complete, you will know if you qualify for a federal housing grant.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't anticipate an easy approval. This is a process that can be difficult and lengthy due to a very limited federal budget.