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Home Buying Season In Full Swing – What Delawareans Should Know

Written on: June 14th, 2012 in Guest Posts Helping Our Neighbors

Guest Post by Anas Ben Addi, Director of DSHA

Here in Delaware, and across the country, June is National Homeownership Month and the home buying season is in full-swing — an exciting time when many individuals begin considering what may be their future home.

At the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA), we have been hard at work developing programs to ensure each Delawarean has the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of owning their home. Homeownership provides individuals, families and communities with a sense of security and stability. Purchasing a home can be a big investment, particularly for first-time home buyers, but many people find that they offset the upfront cost of buying a home by taking simple steps like applying for tax deductions. Additionally, with historically low mortgage rates, many potential home buyers are seeing added benefits to locking in a 15 or 30-year fixed rate right now.

Benefits from homeownership go beyond the obvious financial ones. For example, children can benefit from the stability homeownership offers including staying in the same school district for extended periods of time and learning positive finance and budget habits from their parents that come from owning a home.  Additionally, homeownership benefits the community around you. Homeowners often live in their home longer than renters do. As a result, homeowners are often likely to become more involved in their community by voting, getting involved in their civic associations and shopping locally.

Through DSHA, Delawareans can find a range of programs to help them purchase a new home. For instance, the First Time Homebuyer Program offers individuals who haven’t owned a home in three years below-market mortgage rates at a time when rates are already at all-time lows. Similarly, Loans for Heroes provides qualified veterans below-market rates regardless of the last time they purchased a home. Additionally, other programs such as Rebuilding Our Community and the Second Mortgage Assistance Loan are available to help individuals with closing costs and down payment. We have worked to provide a program to meet all housing and financing needs and we hope Delawareans take advantage of this time to consider their options.

There is currently a large inventory of homes at varied price points, making it easier for Delawareans to find the home that’s right for them. I encourage Delawareans to take this time to make a plan, learn more about homeownership and take a look at homes within their budget – you may be surprised by what you find.

For more information on the programs mentioned, please visit Delaware State Housing Authority’s website at: www.destatehousing.com or call 302.739.4263.

Tags: Delaware, DSHA, homebuyers, housing