New program provides grants to homebuyers
The Montana and Idaho Community Development Corporation, an economic development organization focused on boosting small and growing businesses, has awarded a Flathead Valley couple with the first down payment on their new home.
The payment is the second made by the CDC’s new HomeNow Down Payment Gift program, which grants either 3.5 or 5 percent of a qualified homebuyer’s total loan amount toward a down payment, closing costs and prepaid items. Funds are provided to a participating lending organization as the deal closes.
The CDC’s HomeNow program launched in October, and program director Melanie Calahan said the real estate tool could be well-received in the Flathead Valley.
“We’re thrilled to see it take off in the Kalispell area,” Calahan told the Inter Lake on Wednesday. “We think that’s a spot where it might be tough for people to get into homes.”
The CDC announced on Wednesday that it had awarded Bryan and Krista Durgan the down payment on their first home, a 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom in Northwest Kalispell.
The Durgans are the second set of homebuyers to secure the HomeNow grant, following a Missoula couple that received the same grant earlier this month.
Calahan said the CDC created the program to help Montanans invest in property at a time when wages aren’t climbing at the same rate as median home prices.
“There’s a lot of people in the crunch right now,” she said. “Prices are increasing and wages are not necessarily increasing at the same pace. This program is here to fill that gap.”
The HomeNow program is funded by the CDC, as well as money earned through other economic programs, Calahan said. She said the program is currently capable of covering 40 gifts a month statewide, but “we are happy to raise more funds if we see the demand is exceeding the capacity we have. We want to make it available to the people who want to buy homes.”
Candidates for the grant program have to fit three criteria. They must qualify for a government backed loan, have a 640 minimum credit score and have a debt-to-income ratio at 45 percent or better. The property type qualifications are wide-open; only manufactured homes can’t be funded through the program.
“It’s made to keep the process very simple and not add time to the closing,” Calahan said. “We just want to help people who are so close and can’t pull together the last $6,000 to $10,000 to get into a home.”
Calahan said the CDC is currently working on another conventional grant program she hopes will open up in the next month.
For more information on the Montana and Idaho CDC, visit www.MTCDC.org.
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.