First time home buyer government programs Illinois Everyone wants that they have their house and they did not live on rent anymore. But it is also true that their financial position does not allow them to buy or build their house. For this, they have to do lots of hard work and still they are not able to buy a house. If you are also one of them who wants to buy the house in Illinois and does not have money to recover the down payment as well then no issue. Because there are various ways by which one can get help to buy a home in Illinois.
You just need to look for them and you can get help. And if you are a first-time home buyer then it may be possible that you will some extra advantage of this. There are various agencies and government programs which will help to get money for buying the home for the first time. You will get help from them to pay your down payment and closing cost for the house. You can see that those agencies and government programs help the people who want to buy a home in or around Illinois by financial assistance. In this article, you are going to get info about what is first-time homebuyer grant and in what areas of Illinois you will get the financial assistance to buy a home. Let’s continue.
Highlights of this Post
What is a first-time homebuyer grant?
Grants are always helpful for the people who need them badly or truly. Government and other agencies always come forward to help the people who need their help and are ready to help them in by helping them with their various assistance programs. Same as one can get financial assistance from those agencies and government assistance programs. A financial grant is very helpful for the people who need to pay the down payment for buying the home or closing cost for the loan.
Even they will get the grant for money, which they have never needed to repay, and some of the grants which are forgivable loans. And if someone gets the forgivable loan then it is paid when they refinance or sell the home. In that way, any financial loan or grant that one can get is helpful for them to become a homeowner with ease; they just need to look for help. you can refer our another article if you are a resident of Texas or want to buy a home in first time in Texas, you can get state first time home buyer assistance from this article
Illinois first time home buyer grant requirements
However, each grant program or assistance needs the eligibility requirements and they all have different eligibility requirements. And the applicants must fulfill and follow all their rules and terms. Many of the grant programs or schemes need:
- Your income will be low to moderate to get assistance.
- Get the home as a primary residence.
- You will buy the home in a specific geographical location.
- You have to take the home buyer classes or participate in housing counseling, to understand how to buy the home.
- You have to buy the house within the purchase limits.
- You have to use your money to buy the home, up to $1,000 or the 1% of the house price.
- Usually The credit should be 640 that is considered as minimum credit score for this assistance
You will also get help to buy a first-time home in Illinois from the getgovtgrants assistance, and get guidance to get assistance or a loan for buying the home in Illinois for the first time.
First-time home buyer grants Illinois
As you are a first-time home buyer then you need to check all the assistance programs which will be helpful for you. Here is the list is given for the homebuyers who want to buy a home in or around Illinois. In that list, the first three assistance programs are given which are offered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority or IHDA. And the last one is administrated by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which is operated statewide. Except for 1st time HomeIllinois, all are open to repeat as well as first-time buyers. Let’s read continue and check all the grant programs and what are their requirements.
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IHDAccess Forgivable
When you apply for the loan or the grant with the IHDAccess forgivable, then you will get 4% for paying the down payment and closing cost of the home. But this grant is given when the home value is within $6,000. If you keep this loan for at least 10 years then you did not need to repay it. So, for buying the home or paying its down payment or closing costs you can take the benefit from this program.
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IHDAccess Deferred
The home buyers will get help for paying the down payment and closing costs up to $7,500 of the purchase price and get the home loan of 5% through this program. In various conditions, the loan must be repaid such as when the buyer sells the home, refinances the mortgage, or when is stopped from making the payments. In all these conditions they have to repay the amount.
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1stHomeIllinois
People who want to have the property or a home in Marion, Cook, St. Clair, and Winnebago counties, those people get the assistance of $7,500 amount to pay out the down payment and closing costs. As its name is 1stHomeIllinois, it defines itself that this grant program is for first-time home buyers. The home buyers who did not own a home in the past three years. For the veterans and applicants who buy a property in a targeted area, this program helps them, for the first time requirements.
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Downpayment plus and downpayment plus advantage
These are the programs that are administrated by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. The home buyers will get the help of $6,000 to pay for the down payment and closing costs. If you take the loan for five years then it will be forgiven. Buyers who want to have the benefit from this grant program have to contribute at least $1,000 to the home purchase value.
Along with this, the buyer has to complete the homebuyer education course as well as counseling. When the buyer wants to take help from this grant program to buy the home, then they have to include a lender who is a member of FHLB Chicago, or in the case of the Advantage program, or from a non-profit organization.
All these grant programs help first-time homebuyers to buy a home with the help of financial assistance. But the home buyers fulfill all the requirements and follow the rules.
Also Read : Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
Grant programs in Chicagoland
If you are a home buyer, who wants to buy a property or a home in Chicagoland then here are some assistance programs are given below. But you can choose them according to the location, and check their facilities and requirements. Let’s continue:
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Wintrust Community Bank Homebuyer Grant Program (Various Counties)
People who are going to buy the home for the first time in Cook, DuPage, Will, Kane, McHenry, and Lake counties, the Wintrust Mortgage, with the non-profit partners, offer the help of up to $2,000. Along with this, the program requires that the buyer has to contribute at least $1,000 in personal funds towards the home purchasing, and with this, they have to complete the homebuyer counseling program.
However, the grants are limited to buyers of one to two-unit properties. And the home buyers who make the property their primary residence. So, the applicant has to remember all the requirements of the program then they have to continue.
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Joliet Down Payment Assistance Program (Joliet)
The Joliet down payment assistance program is the grant program that offers help to the first-time homebuyer up to 20% of the home purchase price. This assistance is given to people in the form of a 0%, forgivable loan. Along with this, the home buyer has to contribute at least $2,500 for purchasing the home.
The home buyers, who are buying the principal residence within the Joliet city limits, for them this grant program is open, but for the applicants who are the low-income. this program work with the cooperation of the Will County Center for Community Concerns.
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Kane County First-Time Homebuyer Loan Program (Kane County)
From this loan program, first-time home buyers will get the assistance of up to $10,000 to pay for the down payments and closing costs. The grant is given to people with an interest-free loan. But it must be repaid in different situations like, when the home is sold, when the title is transferred or when the property is no longer the buyer’s principal residence.
The requirements for this program are that the buyer has to live or work full-time in the Kane-Elgin Consortium Area, and along with it, other residency restrictions apply. For getting the benefit from this grant program, the buyer has to contribute at least 1% of the down payment, and also complete the home buyer education course. Only then they will get the assistance for buying the home or pay for the down payment.
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Kankakee Homebuyer Incentive Program (Kankakee)
The homebuyers who buy the home within the Kankakee city limits will get the assistance of $2,500. But this grant they will get on the first-come, first-serve basis from the Kankakee Homebuyer Incentive Program.
The grants are only for the low to moderate-income families or households, who are buying home within low to moderate-income census tracts. Also, to get assistance from this grant program, the buyers have to complete the homebuyer education course.
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AHC Down Payment Assistance (Lake County)
From the Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County, first-time homebuyers will get the down payment assistance of up to 5% of the purchase price of the home. For receiving this assistance, the applicants need to complete the homebuyer education course and counseling.
The help is given to the homebuyers in the form of a no-interest loan with no-monthly payments. And this loan can be forgiven when the five years are over. But, if you sold the house before this period then you have to partially repay the whole loan amount.
Now, you can decide where you want to buy the home and for which assistance program you want to apply to get financial assistance.
Cook county home buyer assistance program and Chicago
Here are the grants or assistance programs are given below for the people who want to buy a home in Chicago and Cook County. Let’s see about them and what the requirements to get the benefits from them are:
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NeighborhoodLIFT (Cook County)
If someone wants to buy a home in Cook County then they will get the NeighborhoodLIFT down payment assistance program. This is a national assistance program which is offered by the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation and Neighborworks of America. The qualified home buyers will get a grant of up to $17,500 from the program. This program is administrated by Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, in Cook County and Chicago. However, the funds are limited and that’s why for people who want to buy the primary residence in Cook County, the help is given to people on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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Chicago Home Buyer Assistance Program (Chicago)
When you want to buy a home in Chicago and need financial assistance then you can apply for the Chicago Homebuyer assistance program. But when you apply for this assistance program then you have to take the 8-hour homebuyer education course. The city of Chicago offers the help of up to 7% to pay for the closing costs and a down payment of the main amount. The property or the home that you want to buy is must be in Chicago.
In any case, within the first five years, if the home is sold or the mortgage is refinanced then the grant must be repaid partially. The borrower must give their contribution for $1,000 or 1% of the purchase price, then can choose anyone less for them. All these are the main points that the buyer has to follow and if they did not follow these points then they did not get the loan.
Grant programs in northern Illinois
If you buy a home in northern Illinois then there is a different grant program for buying the home. Let’s see what it is, and how much assistance you will get:
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Homebuyer Assistance Program (Rockford)
If you buy the house in Rockford city, then you will get assistance up to $14,999. But this assistance you will get when you buy the house in the Rockford city limits. The borrowers have to follow many things such as their income within the limits of eligibility requirements as well as the price of the house that they are going to buy. And along with it, they have to complete the housing counseling classes. The homebuyers in Rockford have to live in the house for at least 6years to get the benefit of the assistance program. Along with all those things, the buyers have to pay a minimum of $250 for the cost of the home.
Grant programs in central Illinois
There is another homebuyer’s assistance program for people who want to buy a house in central Illinois. And for this, they have to follow the rules of the assistance. Let’s see what they are:
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Home Buyer’s Down Payment Assistance Program (Normal)
When you buy the home in Normal town, then you will get a forgivable loan of the amount up to $3,000, for the five years. You can use this money for the down payment or closing cost of the home.
Along with this, the loan has some more requirements. Such as it is not limited only to first-time homebuyers, but their income limits also apply. The mobile houses are not qualified, and the house will be owner-occupied. If someone fulfills all these requirements then they will get the home buyer’s down payment assistance program’s benefit.
Grant programs in Metro East Illinois
For buying a home in Metro East Illinois, there is the grant program which is named as City of Alton’s homeownership program. Let’s read about this assistance program.
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City of Alton’s Homeownership Program (Alton)
People who want to buy a home in Alton will get the five years forgivable loan. This loan they will get for the down payment and closing costs. And also get this loan on a first-time, first-served basis.
If any buyer fulfills all the requirements of the loan, along with the “very low-income”, they will get help up to $5,000. So, if you want to have a home in Alton then meet the requirements of the program.
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Madison County HOMEbuyer Program (Madison County)
If you want to buy a home in Madison County, then the Madison County Community Development Department offers a forgivable loan for five years. You will get financial help up to $5,000, so you can pay for the down payment and closing costs. This program gives help to households who are low-income to moderate-income.
All these are the loans and assistance programs for the different places of Illinois. Now, you can look for any of the ones where you want to buy the home.
Your next step
If you see that these assistance programs are right for you if you are going to buy the house in Illinois, then you can contact the administrator of those program providers. But you have to make sure that you follow the rules of the agencies and government programs, and complete the homebuyer education course and counseling, because it is mandatory for almost every assistance program. But make sure, before applying for any of the assistance programs to buy the home, you read their eligibility criteria and requirements, and if you are eligible then apply.
