Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

Home buyers have various wants and needs important to them when purchasing a home. With gas prices above $3 per gallon, living within walking distance of public transportation has been an increasingly popular priority for Massachusetts home buyers over the past few years.

The real estate media, as well as many real estate bloggers, have been buzzing about the announcement that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now offer first-time home buyers conventional mortgages with only a 3 percent down payment, but in Massachusetts home buyers already have two options for low down payment mortgages.

No home buyer wants to pay mortgage insurance (MI), commonly referred to as private mortgage insurance or PMI, but saving enough money for a 20 percent down payment to avoid PMI, especially in the high-cost Boston area real estate market, is easier said than done.

Massachusetts first-time home buyers have a lot to think about, and obtaining an affordable home mortgage is certainly one of those considerations. Fortunately, first-time home buyers have some options to obtain a straightforward, low down payment mortgage, with competitive rates.

There are a few home loan programs that benefit different types of first-time home buyers; however, the two best arguably are the Massachusetts Housing Partnership ONE Mortgage and the MassHousing Mortgage. Both mortgage options have income limits and other requirements. 

Are you preparing for an upcoming move to a new home? Do you have concerns about how the transition will go for your child with autism? How will you prepare your autistic child for such a transition?

Home buying can be a stressful process for some families, even under the best circumstances. It is natural for people to struggle with change. For many children with autism, these issues are tenfold. Children don't have a lot of experience dealing with change, and children with autism often have great difficulty dealing with unanticipated changes or transitions, even small daily occurrences.

Several first-time home buyer programs require borrowers obtain a home-buying certificate in order to qualify for the loan program. MassHousing mortgages, as well as the Massachusetts Housing Partnership ONE Mortgage, require home buyers to participate in a qualified Massachusetts first-time home buyer class. 

BLUE, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, is offering a two-day class, Home Buying 101, at the Eastern Middlesex Association of Realtors in Reading, Massachusetts on September 20th and 21st. Participants who attend both days will receive a home buyer certificate required for MassHousing Mortgage loans.

At an open house recently in Boston for a Back Bay condo, a potential home buyer could be easily overheard providing the agent representing the seller with all kinds of personal information, none of which would have helped her get a good deal, but all of which may have helped a seller during negotiations. 

In June of 2013 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced the creation of a homeownership compact, with the goal of bringing lenders together to provide 10,000 mortgage loans to first-time home buyers over five years. The compact included a commitment among participating lenders to originate a specific number of loans through MassHousing and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) home loan programs. 

As part of the effort to provide Massachusetts first-time home buyers with lower and moderate incomes an opportunity to own a home, the state launched a new Web site to provide potential home buyers information about MassHousing mortgages and the MHP One Mortgage. 

Massachusetts homebuyers need to thoroughly understand the importance of the loan commitment date when purchasing a home and how failing to do so may result in the loss of their deposits.

The failure of a home buyer to receive a clean loan commitment letter, extend the loan commitment deadline or to terminate the contract with the seller before the loan commitment deadline passes puts him or her in jeopardy of losing deposits made at the time the offer to purchase and purchase and sale agreement were signed. For many home buyers, these deposits total 5 percent of the purchase price of the home they intend to purchase. 

The Boston Globe reported on July 9, 2014 that a few additional lenders have agreed to participate in a state program to provide loans to first-time home buyers through MassHousing and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. What types of loans are available to first-time home buyers? Eligible first-time home buyers may qualify for mortgages with low down payments, no private mortgage insurance (PMI) and other benefits. 

The following are a few, but not all, of the loan programs available to first-time home buyers in Massachusetts.