What is Ameridream?

Ameridream is a non profit company that helps low to moderate income individuals or families by a home by providing down payment assistance. The Ameridream dpa program has been setting the standard for which all other down payment assistance programs strive to be. To get the Ameridream cash assistance, you must find a seller that is willing to participate in the program. The seller pledges money from the proceeds of the sale to the Ameridream foundation. In exchange Ameridream will gift the buyer the down payment needed for the FHA financing. Typically it is 3%.

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Can I still buy a home with no money down?

Easy answer is yes. FHA has some great options available. With an FHA mortgage you are allowed to have a seller pay all of your closing costs and provide a down payment. You must find a seller that is willing to do this because all of this money comes out of their proceeds. But in a down market sellers are more willing to do this if they are motivated to sell their property. My advice is to find a Realtor this is familiar with FHA financing knowledge to help you work out a no closing cost home purchase.

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Is FHA the best loan right now to buy a house?

FHA mortgage loans are right now the best way to buy a home for no money down. If you live in an area where Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has deemed a declining market, your appraisal will be reduced by 5%. This means that that 100% financing program you were trying to get will require you to bring in 5% down payment now. So what is a buyer to do? You should apply for an FHA loan. You can buy the home with none of your money. You will still need to have 3% of your own money in the transaction but you can get that in the form of a gift or the Ameridream program.

The Ameridream program is basically legal money laundering that the government has set up to get home buyers their down payment. The seller can also give you the money through the Ameridream foundation. They don't directly give it to you, the Ameridream Foundation will pass it through to you at closing. Either way it works. You will need to provide your full income documentation including tax returns and pay stubs. You will not need to have any reserves in the bank and there is no minimum fico or credit score requirement.

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No money down financing may be dead in some states due to declining real estate values

If you live in an area that appraisers are checking off declining market on their appraisal report, your underwriter may reduce your property appraised value by 5%. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also take 5% right off the top. If a loan officer is telling you that they can get you 100% financing you may want to ask them a few more questions. Ask them if you are going to get dinged 5% for a declining market. You best bet for getting a home these days is to have some money down in the transaction.

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Suze Orman visits Larry King, Credit Card Information

I just saw Suze Orman on the Larry King Show talking about credit cards. One of the questions from a caller was about canceling a credit card that was 10 years old and had a zero balance on it. The kicker on this is that the credit card company was charging the client $39 dollars a year on a credit card that they were not using anymore. You need to realize that 10% of your credit score comes from your credit history, so canceling the card will cancel the history with it. She recommended getting a new card and canceling the old one, making sure the new one was a no fee card. You would also want to make sure that the new credit limit was the same or higher than the old card. Doing this should have little or no effect on the credit score.

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Did Fannie Mae put your home in a Declining Market Status?

Across the country property values have done a free fall while some areas have remained relatively stable. In Maricopa County Arizona, Fannie Mae has declared this county a declining market. What this means is that every appraisal that they look at, they are going to cut the value of the appraisal by 5%. What this means now is that you will have to have to put money down if you want to buy a home. They will no longer do 100% financing. If you are trying to refinance, you better have equity in your home or they will no longer look at you.

There are portfolio lenders out there that will still do one hundred percent financing, they just charge a higher rate for it. US Bank still offers 100% financing in areas that are deemed declining by Fannie Mae, you can expect to pay about 1.25% higher rates over conventional lenders that sell their loans to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac corporations.

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