HOME BUYER LOANS

The city offers loans to qualified applicants who wish to purchase and occupy new or existing homes within the city limits. Home buyer assistance loans can be used for down payment, closing costs and / or interest rate buy down. These loans are offered at 0% interest and are either repaid at 0% interest over 10 years or deferred for 30 years. Repayment determination is based on the applicants median family income (MFI), as define by HUD.

Eligible housing includes single family homes, condominiums or town homes with a maximum purchase price that does not exceed $215,555 for new or existing homes.

The amount of the city's home buyer assistance loans is based on the MFI of the applicant's household as follows:

MFI	LOAN	TERMS
0% - 50%	$20,000	Deferred
50%- 80%	$15,000	Deferred
80%-120%	$8,000	Amortized
120%-150%	$ 6,000	Amortized

An additional $10,000 per loan is available for properties located in our Special Assistance Areas.

ARE YOU READY TO BE A HOMEOWNER?

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

FINANCING
The process to purchase your new home should begin with one of our W.I.N. Lender Partners to determine the amount of mortgage you may qualify for and thereby know what price range to shop in. All you have to do to received a list of our W.I.N. Lender Partners is call our office and request a lender list which can be E-mailed or mailed to you the same day. It is recommended that you contact as many of our Lender Partners as possible to get the best rate and terms package that most closely meets your needs. When you call the lenders please identify yourself as an applicant for a W.I.N. Loan and your lender will do the rest. The lender will “Pre-Qualify” you for a loan amount. A “Pre-Qualification” is NOT a commitment by the lender but an estimate of the maximum loan amount you may qualify for after you have selected your home. To the estimated loan amount add the amount of W.I.N. assistance your household income qualifies for and your 2% down payment, the total of these 3 figures is the maximum home purchase price.

Est. Mortgage Loan $132,000
Est. W.I.N. Loan $ 15,000
Your 2% Down Pmt. $ 2,640
less: est. closing costs$ -6,000
Maximum Purchase Price $143,640

HOME BUYER EDUCATION
As a benefit and a requirement of receiving a W.I.N. Loan you will be required to attend Home Buyer Education, Family Budgeting / Financial Fitness and Home Maintenance classes. It is to your benefit to start these classes as soon as possible, they will give you the basis to make informed decisions during the process. You can select any of our approved trainers listed below that best match your schedule.

Homebuyer Education
Community Service Foundation
(727) 461-0618

Tampa Bay Community Development Corp.
(727) 442-7075

St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services
(727) 821-6897

Home Maintenance
Pinellas Technical Education Center
(727) 893-7247
.
SELECTING YOUR NEW HOME
Now you are ready to select a contractor to build you a home or a Realtor to help you find the home of your dreams. This is where all the time you have spent on your home buyer education and financing pays off. There is no limit to the options that are now before you. You now have all the tools necessary to evaluate the home options that will be presented to you and make the BEST informed decisions selecting your new home.

MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME
Median Family Income (MFI) is annually defined by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). HUD establishes the MFI specific to the geographic area it applies to and adjusts the MFI for the number of occupants, related or not, that occupy the home. The chart below lists the maximum annual gross household income for the City of St. Petersburg for the 50% , 80% and 150% MFI groups, adjusted for household size.

FISCAL YEAR 2006

Your specific income or household size may vary and will be calculated at time of application.

Household median income is calculated by adding all sources of income from all adult occupants of the household, related or not, including, but not limited to, social security, child support, alimony, public assistance, interest income, pensions, income from other assets and employment income.