Hometown Heroes Housing Program Starts With Us!
The Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program was announced on June 1, 2022, by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The announcement came on the first day of National Homeownership Month, which helps recognize and celebrate the value of owning a home and the positive impact homeownership can have on a community. This program aims to make housing affordable for essential workers in Orlando by providing up to 25K in down payment and closing costs assistance to eligible workers and educators.
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Why this program works
The program provides frontline workers with down payment and closing costs assistance and lower mortgage interest rates
What do I need to succeed at getting approved?
To qualify for the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program, some conditions must be met, including a minimum credit score of 640. In addition, the borrower must make less than 150% of their area’s median income and be a first-time homebuyer.
Frontline workers are essential to the overall success of our country, and over the past few years, dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, they have shown they are the backbone of our communities. Unfortunately, as the cost-of-living increases, more of these essential workers cannot buy homes. The Hometown Hero Housing Program is available to workers and educators employed full-time as:
- Law enforcement officers
- Certified correctional officers
- Probation officers
- 911 operators
- Firefighters
- Paramedics
- Emergency medical technicians
- Teachers
- Education administrators
- Health care professionals
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Use our mortgage calculator and get an idea of what your monthly payment could look like. Enter different home prices and down payment amounts to see how your monthly payment changes. Visit our learning hub to today to gain more mortgage knowledge.
Top Questions People Ask Us
How long will it take to close my loan?
Every situation and every loan is different, so closing times are variable. On average, the closing process usually takes our Experts around 30 days—that’s way faster than the 53-day*[1] industry average.
Does closing happen online or in-person?
For a fully online closing, you can expect to meet remotely using a video conferencing app like Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, etc. Any payments that must be processed for closing will likely be done via electronic transfer and mortgage documents will have to be signed electronically.
What is the minimum down payment I need?
The Home Loan Expert offers several low down payment options.
For conventional loans, we offer options with down payments as low as 3%
For FHA loans, we offer options with down payments as low as 3.5%
And for Hero Loan (VA loans), USDA loans, and our down payment assistance programs, we offer options with zero down (0%) payments for eligible borrowers
Will I need a credit check?
You can get approved with a credit score as low as 589, as long as you meet our other eligibility criteria.
Soft pull credit checks will not affect your score, however a hard pull will be needed to process the loan.
