New Jersey Mortgage and Home Loan Information

New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) mortgage interest rates as of May 10, 2010. This includes the Smart Start NJ First Time Home Buyer Program.

Smart Start allows a home buyer to obtain the required downpayment for an FHA loan. As an example, a home buyer purchase a home for $100,000.  Their required down payment would be 3.5% (or $3,500). In this situation their loan amount would be $96,500. The Smart Start program offers the buyer 4% of the loan amount or in this case $3,860. ($96,500 x 4%). This covers all of the required down payment for an FHA loan and even puts some money towards the closing costs (which the seller can pay the rest if negotiated correctly).

First Time Home Buyer 30 Year Term

5.250% - First Mortgage with no Smart Start assistance

5.625% - First Mortgage with 2% Smart Start assistance

5.750% - First Mortgage with 3% Smart Start assistance

6.000% - First Mortgage with 4% Smart Start assistance

The 40 year team requires an additional add-on of .125%

Home Plus

5.625 with 3 points

Purchase/Rehabilitation Mortgage Program

5.625 with 3 points

Other NJHMFA options include Police and Fire Loans and Live Where You Work. Steve Kappre and Treasury Mortgage are an approved and servicer of NJHMFA Smart Start loans.

Steve Kappre is a mortgage loan officer in New Jersey. For more info or questions feel free to contact Steve.

• NJ First Time Home Buyer
• Purchase, refinance, rehab loans
• Conventional, FHA, USDA, VA, HMFA, First Time Home Buyer, Police and Fire, Live Where You Work, and more

Call direct @ 856-419-3561 | Subscribe to Steve's blog via e-mail | NJ Loan Officer .com | NMLS ID: 218007

NJ First Time Home Buyers: NOW May Be the Best Time to Move (Series)

In case you missed some of my other articles, you may want to know that ...

• The first time home buyer tax credit has been extended. You can still qualify for a tax credit of (up to) $8,000 if you are a first time home buyer in New Jersey. First time home buyers are considered those who have not owned real estate within the last three years. The current guidelines require a home buyer to be under contract by April 30th and to close by June 30th.
• As a first time home buyer in NJ, you can STILL finance a home with credit scores below 620. You read it right: No 620, 640, 700+ FICO score requirements. More recently we have closed purchases for qualifying borrowers with 593, 589, and 597 (middle) FICO scores. If you have been turned down by other lenders, give me a call. I'll let you know if buying is at all possible, and if not, give you great credit advice on how to effectively raise your credit scores.
• Down payment assistance programs, home buying grants, and other options are STILL available. These are available for the majority of New Jersey homes and locations. Here is more information for understanding all of your first time home buyer mortgage options.
• Zero down loans are also available for homes in most New Jersey areas. Some programs require the home to be in a specific geographic location, so check with your preferred NJ Mortgage Lender to see if you may qualify.
• Mortgage interest rates are still low. No matter what program you ultimately select, chances are the rates right now are going to be better then the rates available in the near future.

BE CERTAIN to use a local New Jersey Mortgage lender that specializes in working with New Jersey first time home buyers, or you can be almost certain that you will not be introduced to all of the programs available to you.

Not all lenders have access to all programs, especially first time home buyer programs and options.

Stay posted for the continuing articles in this NJ First Time Home Buyer Series.