The Wall Street Journal has a front page article in its Personal Journal section this morning that caught my eye, “Home Buyers Turn to USDA For Mortgages.” Are you kidding? No, this is the real deal. It’s a program that has been in place to help those in rural areas get financing.
Here are some stipulations:
- Income limitations can’t exceed 115% of the median county income (Hennepin County’s median income is $54,000)
- Financing options up to 100%
- 2% USDA insurance premium paid by the borrower but can often be rolled in to the financing so you could finance 102% of the home’s value
- Loans are restricted to towns with no more than 25,000 population
There are several cities that this might work in for Hennepin County, and in the western suburbs, Corcoran, Medina, Loretto and Independence.  The challenge of course will be to find cheap enough properties, but they are out there.
For additional commentary on this story Housing Wire posted this article, “Mortages, USDA-approved.”