Gwinnett County Housing Rehabilitation Program/ Repair and replace program for health and safety issues

Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation Program

NOTE: The Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation Program is currently not accepting any applications.

The Gwinnett County Community Development Program Office operates a Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation Program that offers a five-year deferred payment loan to qualifying homeowners with 0% interest. Eligible participants must own and occupy a single-family detached home as their principal residence in Gwinnett County. The program is intended to assist qualifying homeowners make essential repairs to their homes.

Gwinnett County Housing Homeowner Rehabilitation Program is a repair and replace program. The replacement products are mid-grade and equivalent to the product being replaced in the home for this project. The emphasis of this program is to address health and safety issues for qualifying homeowners. This program will also focus on the vital life systems of a home, which include, but are not limited to, Electrical, Roof, Plumbing, HVAC, and Environmental Mitigation (Lead-Based Paint and Asbestos).

To qualify for the Homeowner Rehabilitation Program:

• Homeowner must be at or below the income threshold (See chart below)
•  Homeowner must be current on Mortgage and Tax payments
• Bankruptcies must be at least two years since the date of discharge
• Homeowner cannot have any liens on the home
  

Family/Household Size	Program Income  Limits Effective 6/1/18
1	$41,900
2	$47,900
3	$53,900
4	$59,850
5	$64,650
6	$69,450
7	$74,250
8	$79,050

For more information, call (678) 518-6008 or e-mail rehab@gwinnettcounty.com.

Updated Guidelines and Information for Georgia Dream 2019

FACT SHEET:  NEW HHF DPA PROGRAM 
 

At Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs, we are focused on creating  “communities with opportunities” – thinking out of the box about how to help build communities where life has the possibility of being better and richer and fuller.  Owning a home means having a vested interest in where you live.  We work hard to increase home ownership across our state.  This is the  “American Dream”.  And nowhere is that more important than in our hardest hit communities, where many families continue to be impacted by the adverse effects of the housing market collapse and economic downturn. 

MAKING THE DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP A REALITY
The Georgia Dream Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) was created to reduce obstacles for homeownership and to stabilize those counties that have been the hardest hit with serious delinquency, negative equity, distressed sales and foreclosures. The funds utilized are an allocation of federal dollars received by the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority from the U.S. Treasury. This new program – the HHF Down Payment Assistance Program (HHF DPA) – provides $15,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible borrowers purchasing an existing home in seven of Georgia’s hardest hit counties. Funds are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Funds will be secured in the form of a second lien on the property with no interest and no monthly payments. The lien is forgiven and released 5 years after the closing date.

Program Highlights

Funds available: $ 15 million 

Counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Muscogee, Douglas, Chatham and Bibb
  
Property eligibility: Must be existing; new construction is not eligible 

Amount:   $15,000 per household (no PEN or CHOICE upgrades) 

Form: Recorded second mortgage lien with 0% interest, no monthly payment and forgivable after five years First mortgage:  
Must be a Georgia Dream first lien (FHA, VA, USDA or conventional 80% LTV or less) 

Rate: First mortgage must be Georgia Dream published rate  

Income: Same requirements as current Georgia Dream Program; 
1-2 persons – $60,500 statewide, $74,000 Atlanta MSA; 3 or more persons – $69,500 statewide, $84,500 Atlanta MSA (all members of household included)

Purchase price: Same limits as current Georgia Dream Program; $200,000 statewide, $250,000 Atlanta MSA 

Credit score:  Minimum credit score of 640 required 

Additional: Dodd-Frank Certification [the borrower(s) cannot have been convicted within the last 10 years of (a) felony larceny, theft, fraud, or forgery (b) money laundering or (c) tax evasion]



Georgia Dream Down Payment Assistance Brochure

Contact me for additional details and to help you search for a local property!

Dekalb County is giving up to $10,000 to Seniors for Home Repairs! Deadline Feb 1st 2019! Hurry!

Special Purpose Home Repair Program (SPHRP) DeKalb County Community Development Department

The Special Purpose Home Repair Program is made possible through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The DeKalb County Community Development Department will provide deferred payment forgivable loans for DeKalb County homeowners who meet all eligibility requirements. The deferred payment forgivable loans are designed to assist with the cost of critical home repairs to address imminent threats to health or safety due to dangerous, hazardous and/or unsanitary conditions.

Enclosed a pre-application card for you to complete in order to be considered for participation in the Special Purpose Home Repair Program. The pre-application cards will be processed in the order in which they are received in our office. It is imperative that your Card be accurate and complete. Any pre-application card received in this office that is incomplete will not be reviewed.

Homeowner Eligibility

1. DeKalb County homeowner, age 62 or over or legally disabled (age 21) or over, must own and occupy the property to be repaired as their principal place of residence. 2. Homeowner must be listed on the title for the most recent twelve (12) months prior to applying for home repair assistance. 3. Homeowner must not currently hold title to or have financed more than one (1) residential property. 4. Total Household income cannot exceed 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) based on the number of people living in the home. HUD’s Household income guideline are as follows:

Current HUD Income Guidelines

Household Size
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Maximum Income 60%

$31,440

$35,940

$40,440

$44,880

$48,480

$52,080

$55,680

$59,280

Property Eligibility

1. Property must be located in the DeKalb County, Georgia jurisdiction. Properties located in the incorporated City of Atlanta areas within DeKalb County boundaries are not eligible. 2. Property must be a single family detached home. Townhomes, duplexes, condominiums, cooperatives and mobile homes are not eligible.
3. The property condition must be able to pass the legally-required building permit process. 4. Must be current on DeKalb County real estate taxes, Federal and State taxes. 5. Requested repairs must not be a part of an existing homeowner’s insurance claim, or repair/rehabilitation project.

Eligible Repairs

Heating/Cooling Systems: Failure of the Main Source of Heating and Cooling

✓ Heat Pump, HVAC Unit

Plumbing: Plumbing Leaks or Failure of Water Supply Components

✓ Waterlines, Water Pumps and Hot Water Heaters

Electrical: Damaged or Non-Working Electrical System or Wiring

✓ Electrical Boxes (Breaker/Fuse), Basic Wiring

Roofing: Roof replacement or Failure of Roofing Components

✓ Shingles, Gutters, Flashing

Additional Special Purpose Home Repair Program Requirements

Homeowners must submit a complete pre-application card for repair prior to deadline.

The program provides assistance up to $10,000 in the form of a Deferred Payment Forgivable Loan with no installment payments and a 5 year affordable period.

Homeowner must continuously occupy the property as their primary residence for a five (5) year period following the execution date on the loan documents. After (5) years, 100% of the loan balance will be forgiven.

All eligible repairs will be completed by contractors that have been pre-qualified by DeKalb County.

Pre-applications will be reviewed for eligibility upon receipt by the Community Development Department.

Applications are subject to additional underwriting requirements to receive final approval.

Homeowners will execute loan documents including a Loan Agreement, Deed to Secure
Debt and Promissory Note. The deferred payment forgivable loan will be placed as a lien against your property.

No waiting list will be maintained. Applications not approved during the open application period due to lack of funds may be re-submitted during subsequent open application periods.

How to Apply

On or before February 1, 2019, between the hours of 11:00 AM and 3 PM, deliver the completed pre-application form to the address below: DeKalb County Community Development Department 750 Commerce Drive, Suite 401 Decatur, GA 30030

The Community Development Department will randomly select 100 applications for review. After review is complete and eligibility is determined, we will notify eligible applicants so that they can complete a formal application for final eligibility determination. Applicants that are not accepted during this period will receive written notification. If you are not selected during this application period, you may re-apply during our next open application period.

Open Application Period January 17, 2019 thru February 1, 2019 By 3:00 PM”

https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user2778/PRE-APP%20CARD.pdf

Curious about your home's value? It might be worth more than you think!

Click here for your easy free Home Valuation!

Friends Don't Let Friends Give Away Their Home Equity! :-)

I am writing this post as your friendly neighborhood realtor. I am seeing heavy advertisement from large tech firms and those representing large hedge funds to make you a "offer" on your home and a quick closing. They are showing lots of videos about how you do not have to bother with showings and being inconvenienced by contact with people to sell your property. Let me tell you.. unfortunately they are simply not being honest. As a professional I already understood their business models but I want to pull the curtain back for you.

These firms do not offer you appraised value. They start off with a lower algorithm value ( similar to less than a Zillow algorithm). They reduce that price by realtor commission. Reduce again for their closing costs. or they call it a "liquidity" fee of 8% to 16%. They will also complete an inspection on your property and reduce the property for all of their repair costs to rehabilitate your property and then give you the NET after all of these fees. This becomes your "final" offer price and if you do not accept they will cancel the sale.

In a traditional sale with a Realtor, we comb the MLS for all the recent sales and view similar property condition and types of homes and discuss what we are seeing as avg seller concession. We place your home on our open market to give you wide exposure for your property so you have the opportunity to receive the highest and best offer. The cost of sale is Realtor commission and any buyer closing cost concession. 

Is it not WORTH a few people walking though your home upfront to keep thousands ( I have seen offers 10k-over 100K lower than property value being offered) in your pocket? You can use this money for so many things! This could be your money to move you to another property more comfortably or even if you went on vacation or whatever! Why give it away just because someone is telling you it is "easy"! Let me tell you! Maybe it was easy to earn money while you simply lived in your home but friends don't let friends give their hard earnest $$$ away!! 

Also please think of your neighbors you leave behind.. each time a sale occurs in our neighborhood that is under value it hurts the next home owner that lists their home for sale. As a Realtor for the past 20 years I have been around to see many of the cycles I know! After the recession of 2008 we witnessed our property values plummet and snatch our properties up for little to nothing.. then the hedge funds came in and convinced the banks to simply bulk sale them all the foreclosed properties. Those hedge funds tightened the market and placed properties in their funds and watched values increase and their profits grow. The tech companies have the deep pockets and control over the algorithms to tell you from California what your property is worth sight unseen. 

We are seeing our values comeback and we should be the ones to reap that benefit. If you need a free easy home valuation with no pressure.. I am happy to help you and go over all the details you may be concerned about. I have helped my clients transition from selling to purchase many times and in the recession I saved my clients homes from foreclosure or if they were ready to move on I completed hundreds of short sales.. thank you for reading :-)

Get Your Free Easy Home Valuation!

New Rules for Overbidding on HUD Homes!!

Those of you who have previously bid on HUD homes or have heard of some horror stories about trying to buy one.. well things are getting better on the bidding process.  Many agents have found it increasingly difficult to win the HUD bids for their clients as many other agents routinely over bid on the properties hoping to obtain a higher appraised value.  Many times the higher appraised value is not obtained and the purchaser is either unwilling or unable to bring the cash difference to the closing table, thus wasting a lot of time and unnecessarily keeping properties off the market.

Well, the rules have now changed and this is going to help owner occupants get the home they desire for a fair price!!

What if my offer price is higher than the appraised value?


FHA guidelines will limit the underwriter to insuring the loan for the lower of two values; the offer price or the appraised value (displayed as the As-Is Value). If your offer price is higher than the appraised value, the FHA underwriter will require that your buyer(s) cover the overbid amount with a cash deposit. The buyer(s) will not be allowed to build the overbid amount into an FHA loan.

HUD’s mortgagee letter 2000-27 will require that the FHA UW (Under Writer) use the appraisal obtained by PEMCO. This mortgagee letter instructs the FHA UW NOT to obtain a new appraisal; nor can the FHA UW request that new comps be pulled and the PEMCO appraisal updated.

If your offer price is higher than the appraised value and tentative acceptance is extended to you, the options available to you are:

1. Proceed with contract execution. PEMCO will require that the selling broker verify that the cash reserves are available to cover the overbid amount before we execute the contract.

2. Use cash or conventional financing. All of the guidelines outlined above apply to FHA financing only. A conventional lender will have their own set of guidelines not governed by HUD.

3. Cancel prior to contract execution. If there is an acceptable backup, we will award tentative acceptance to the backup offer. If there are no acceptable backup offers, the property will be relisted.



If an investor or any buyer gets a property awarded, but Buyer’s lender does not accept HUD’s appraisal, and the value comes in lower in another appraisal, can HUD adjust price? Absolutely not.

If an investor cancels escrow due to property financing because of value not being there, does he lose his deposit? Yes.

Refer to Addendum A. The only guidelines that will allow an investor to get any portion of their earnest money back is if an investor is using FHA financing and the FHA underwriter determines that the investor is not an acceptable borrower, then 50% of the earnest money deposit will be refunded.

As you know, FHA’s loan products are not set up for investor use; so the potential for an investor to receive any portion of their earnest money back is remote.

What about if property was purchased under Owner Occupancy, will the same rules apply?

Answer – Yes, the same rules apply, but if you read Addendum A, you will find that this addendum has many more provisions when it comes to returning all or a portion of the earnest money deposit to an owner occupant buyer. If the underwriter determines that the value of the property has dropped below the purchase price, PEMCO could determine that the cancellation of escrow is based on “other good cause” and it is probable that 100% of the earnest money will be refunded.