Sponsored Partner Content by
Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA)
The Virginia Housing Development Authority recently began offering a new financing package for first-time homebuyers called the VHDA Loan Combo. This innovative combination of products and services provides four benefits aimed at assisting these new buyers – a free homebuyer education class, an affordable VHDA mortgage, a down payment grant, and a homebuyer tax credit.
The first benefit of VHDA’s program, a free homebuyer education class, covers topics such as personal credit, creating a spending plan, working with lenders and real estate agents, as well as the home inspection and closing process. The class is offered in English and Spanish, and can be taken online or in classroom settings.
“Because VHDA’s focus is on helping first-time homebuyers, we place a lot of importance on homebuyer education,” said Dan Kern, VHDA Business Development and Training Manager. “We’ve been offering free homebuyer courses for a number of years, both online and through live classes throughout the state. We feel it’s important that people are educated about the entire homebuying process before they buy.”
The second benefit of VHDA’s Loan Combo program is a series of low or no down payment mortgage programs that VHDA issues through its network of approved lenders throughout Virginia. “The down payment is the biggest hurdle to becoming a homeowner, so these loans do a magnificent job of helping buyers purchase a property with little to no money down,” said Kern.
To further help new homebuyers with the down payment, VHDA offers a down payment assistance grant as the third benefit of the Loan Combo program. “We actually created our own down payment assistance grant in 2015, and the nice thing about it is the fact that it’s applied as a portion of the normal down payment, but never has to be paid back. It’s a true grant from VHDA to homebuyers to help them purchase their first home,” said Kern.
The fourth and final benefit of the Loan Combo program is VHDA’s Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC), which is a federal tax credit that could save eligible first-time homebuyers thousands of dollars by reducing the amount of federal income tax they owe. Unlike an income tax deduction, an MCC is a dollar-for-dollar credit against federal income tax liability. The MCC is effective for the life of the mortgage, so you could potentially save money on your taxes every year, as long as you live in your home.
“VHDA’s MCC is an actual tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and it really helps them to either reduce the amount of tax liability that they have and maybe even get additional money back when they file their taxes,” said Kern. “So, this is another way that VHDA is helping to make homeownership more affordable for first-time homebuyers.”
For more information about VHDA’s Loan Combo program, please visit vhda.com/loancombo. This site will not only provide homebuyers with information about VHDA’s unique programs and services, but they can also find a list of lenders in their area that originate VHDA loans.