How to Find Government Grants for First Time Home Buyers

Purchasing your first home is an exciting dream. However, many individuals just don’t have the funding to purchase a home outright. Others may not have enough credit to have a home financed. Low-income families struggle as well. For all of these situations, getting a grant for first time home buyers is a valuable and important resource. Knowing how to find them is the first step of getting a first time home buyer grant.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Check out HUD.
   
   Work with HUD, or the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, to obtain a first time home buyer grant. Often times, HUD can help first time home buyers obtain a home with no money down and very low payments. Through low-interest loan programs and grants, HUD helps individuals and families obtain safe housing. You can apply to receive help at a HUD local chapter in your area or on their official website, www.HUD.gov.

2. Look into Grants.gov.
   
   Visit www.grants.gov and research the available home buyer grants. Grants.gov contains a list of all grants available from the US government. On the site is a search tool that allows you to find grants by keywords. This makes it easy for you to find first time home buyer grants on the site. You can learn more about each grant by checking the details to see if you would be eligible for a particular grant. You can also obtain applications from this site and easily download them so you’ll be ready to apply for the grant.

3. Conduct Necessary Research.
   
   Plan to spend a lot of time on research for first time home buyer grants. It takes a lot of work to find the right grants as several factors must be considered, such as eligibility, income, credit, and more. Take notes on the different programs available to you and where you found the information. Also, make notes about individuals you’ve spoken to on the phone and what organization or company they were with. When you’re able to devote some time to the research, you’ll find it easier to obtain information regarding grants.

4. Search at the State Level.
   
   Often times when federal grants can’t be found, there will be grants available on the state level. Many states have grant and low-interest loan programs to help first time home buyers. Such programs may help you obtain the down payment for your first house, the money to pay for closing and taxes and more. You can learn more about state level first time home buyer grants at First Time Home Buyer. See "Resources" for link.

5. Become More Knowledgeable about Grant Proposals.
   
   Learning about grant proposals and how to write them can really help you have a better chance at obtaining a first time home buyer grant. Grant proposals should be easy to understand, organized, and free of errors. Learn more about how to write a grant proposal at http://nonprofit.about.com/od/foundationfundinggrants/tp/grantproposalhub.htm.
   
   By using the information above, you can find first time home buyer grants that will help you obtain your first home.

Resources

• First Time Home Buyer Grant

[dinrob]

on 6/12/2009 Great information! Just what I needed.