BUSINESS
Living the Dream Special programs can help new homebuyers
hen U.S. Army veteran Michael Corpus decided it was time to buy a home, he thought he’d have to settle for a small one-bedroom property far from where he works in sales at a car rental company in Seattle. But thanks to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan obtained through Veterans United Home Loans, 38-yearold Corpus ended up with a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo just 10 miles south of the city. “A lot of people who buy homes become cash poor. They don’t have any money to make improvements, take a vacation or buy a car. I wasn’t forced to drain my savings to buy my first home. It was a huge help,” he says. Corpus is one of many Latinos in the U.S. to benefit from a range of programs that help eligible consumers acquire their first homes or get back into the real estate market. Some programs, like the one from Veterans United, help
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HISPANIC LIVING | FALL 2015
veterans and active members of the U.S. military obtain from the VA loans that require no down payments, which can be as much as 20 percent of the house cost. Others, such as the LIFT Programs from Wells Fargo, provide down payment grants of up to $15,000 to applicants who meet certain income and other eligibility requirements. These grants do not have to be paid back as long as you stay in your home for five years. The rate of U.S. Hispanic homeownership stood at 45.4 percent in 2014, but that figure is expected to rise. Latinos hold the largest share of household growth for any racial or ethnic population group in the country, which is a main predictor of homeownership. And Latinos are expected to account for 41 percent of the nation’s 17 million new households by 2025, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). If you’re interested in purchasing a home, start by educating yourself about the process. Many organizations offer
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BY LAURA CASTAÑEDA