"Use AmeriDream to buy a home, I did" is what a friend of mine told me so I decided to try it myself. My name is Jim. I started looking around on the Internet for information about the AmeriDream program and first time buyers. I found a lot of information, including this site GetPreQualified.com. I read as much as I could and of course talked to my friend some more. When I thought I knew enough I decided it was time to try to buy a house using AmeriDream.
I Got Pre-Qualified First
One of the first things my friend told me to do was to get pre-qualified. I knew from what my friend said and from the reading that I did that I needed to talk to a loan officer who offered FHA home loans. From what I could tell, FHA loans are the only loans that allow the use of the AmeriDream down payment program to buy a home. I found a couple of loan officers to talk to about my financial situation.
Each loan officer pulled my credit and gave me good faith estimates. I must have gotten lucky because I have heard so many horror stories about loan officers not wanting to give estimates, but with the ones that I talked to, I didn't even have to ask for them.
Luckily, my credit was good, and I have been working at the same job for the last couple of years, but I didn't have very much money in the bank. This I was told both by my friend and these loan officers that I didn't need much money in the bank if I was going to use the AmeriDream program. I was happy to know this. In getting pre-qualified I found out how much home I could qualify for, and I found out how much I could buy given the monthly payments I wanted to make. Surprisingly, I could qualify for more home than I wanted to spend.
Home Buyer Education From AmeriDream, Inc.
One of the things that I had to do was to take a quick online class about being a home buyer and home owner. I needed a certificate showing that I had completed the course before I could use the AmeriDream down payment program.
AmeriDream Provides Down Payment Assistance As A Gift
In using the FHA loan program to buy a home, I was allowed to get a gift from a relative for down payment and closing costs. FHA has a special guideline. This guideline allows for a gift to be given to a home buyer from a non profit organization. The non profit organization has to be in the business of helping people buy homes who don't have much money, and approved by FHA to be able to give the gift.
It was exciting to me to find out I could use this program since I qualified in every way to buy a home, but I didn't have much money in the bank. I also didn't want to ask my parents to help because I wanted to do this on my own and I know that they didn't have much money in the bank to help me either. Although, as my parents always seemed to do was pull it out for me whenever I needed help, so I think they would have helped me here too.
How AmeriDream Works
AmeriDream, Inc. just doesn't have a big bank account where they can give money away to people who need downpayment money to buy a home. The process of getting the gift involves the seller of the home. I hope I can explain this correctly.
When I went out with my real estate agent to shop for homes, my agent knew that I was planning on using FHA and AmeriDream. I told my agent this upfront. I actually had to talk to several agents before I found the one that I wanted to work with as several of them had never worked with the AmeriDream home buyer program. I wanted someone who had worked with the program before.
Searching For A Home, Finding One, And Making The Offer
So we went shopping for homes and found one pretty quick that met my needs and price range. There are a lot of homes on the market right now. The next thing we needed to do was to put in my purchase offer asking for the seller to give me 6% of the sales price for downpayment and closing costs. My agent explained to the seller's real estate agent that we were planning on using the AmeriDream program in combination with an FHA loan. The owner of the home accepted my offer without any counteroffer. I was so happy.
Getting Money From AmeriDream At Settlement
For AmeriDream to work, the seller has to give enough money to the AmeriDream company at settlement to match the money that the AmeriDream company is giving me at settlement. It seems like it is the same money, but it is actually a payment to the AmeriDream organization and they at the same time, send money to the title company that is used for my down payment requirements for the FHA loan and my closing costs. Also, the seller gives a little bit more than what is coming to me which is a small administrative fee that the AmeriDream, Inc. keeps. This is how they make their money.
My Loan Got Approved And I Got My House
Well this is exactly how it happened for me. It was really quite easy. I got my home about 1 month after my offer was accepted. I know that I didn't want to rush things so we asked for a full 30 days to get my loan approved. My loan was approved in a couple of weeks. During this time we did different inspections like termite, the heating unit, home inspection, the appraiser came out. Right before settlement I did a final walk through the home to make sure there was nothing wrong with the house before I signed documents to make it mine.
After the walk through, the next day we went to settlement. I finally met the sellers. They were a nice couple who were relocating to another city and were so happy to have their home sold. I signed all of my paperwork - there was a lot of papers to sign. The title company passed checks around to the real estate agents, the seller after all the paperwork was signed. I didn't get a check, I got the keys to my new home.
After I left my closing, I called my friend who told me about AmeriDream and thanked her. I am now a proud homeowner. I have had this dream for a long time and finally it has come true. I am thankful for FHA having loan programs for people with little or even no money as I found out, and I am thankful for the AmeriDream company for having their program that helps people buy homes who do not have much money for down payment or closing costs.
