Are you thinking of buying your first home in Delaware? Would you like a free gift of money to help you purchase that first home? If you answered yes to these two questions, there is great news for you. The state of Delaware provides free grant money for its residents who are buying home first time and need help with the down payment and closing costs. This money comes in the form of state grants. This is free money that shouldn’t be passed up! The grant awards can be in the thousands of dollars. It will be well worth your time to educate yourself about the grant programs that the State of Delaware provides.
Delaware Grants
The agency in Delaware that provides assistance to first time home buyers is The Delaware State Housing Authority. There is one grant available, depending upon your income. You can receive up to 3% of the mortgage amount which is available to pay closing costs. To find out more information, please visit the Delaware State Housing Authority website page specifically describing this grant program.
Delaware offers a variety of programs for first time owners, including a couple of grants for Delaware residents. Here are descriptions of what’s available:
Homeownership Loan Program
Our Homeownership Program provides first mortgage financing at below-market interest rates to qualified homebuyers. This program is operated statewide.
The Homebuyer’s Information Guidebook is a great way to learn about the steps involved in buying a home.
Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)
This program helps local jurisdictions purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and rehabilitate, resell or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the decline of house values of neighboring homes. The homes are then sold to low- to moderate-income homebuyers. This program is operated statewide.
Read about how one family purchased a foreclosed property that became their first home.
Downpayment & Closing Cost Assistance:
Second Mortgage Assistance Loan (SMAL)
The Second Mortgage Assistance Loan (SMAL) assists income qualified borrowers in the purchase of their own home by providing downpayment and closing cost assistance in the form of second mortgages. SMAL must be used in conjunction with DSHA’s Homeownership Loan.
HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agencies can help you get started on your home purchase. Contact one today!
Rebuilding Our Communities (ROC)
The Rebuilding Our Communities (ROC) assists borrowers in the purchase of a single-family home that has been vacant 90 days or more by providing downpayment and closing cost assistance. ROC properties must be located in an ROC designated census tract and must be used in conjunction with DSHA’s Homeownership Loan.
Live Near Your Work (LNYW)
Want to save gas, time and money by living closer to work? Live Near Your Work (LNYW) is a cooperative partnership between the Delaware State Housing Authority, local jurisdictions and employers to provide financial assistance to eligible employees in purchasing homes near their places of employment. LNYW provides a cash grant to employees for downpayment and closing cost assistance to purchase homes in targeted neighborhoods near their employers.
Does your employer participate? Find out which ones do and how to get your company on board!
To contact the Delaware State Housing Authority, you can reach them at:
Council on Housing
c/o Delaware State Housing Authority
18 The Green
Dover, DE 19901
Phone: 302.739.4263
Federal Grants
Besides the state programs, there are federal funds and grants available in Delaware through the Homes and Communities program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. On their website you’ll find complete grant information, application forms, description of available funds, as well as many other helpful tools.
Every potential buyer should investigate what they have to offer. You can visit the website by going here: US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Also, there is a website that has a complete list of all grant programs available through the United States Federal Government: Grants.gov. First time home buyers should plan to spend the required time investigating to determine how many individual grants they may qualify for. You can visit the website by going to Grants.gov and searching for first time buyer grants available for Delaware residents.
Other Grants For Delaware Residents
In addition to the grant programs described above, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides home buyer assistance and grants in every state. There are multiple grant programs designed specifically for people that meet certain requirements, such as grants for people with disabilities so they can continue to live independently at home. It is worth visiting HUD’s website to see what assistance is currently available. For your convenience, simply go to this page.
Here is the contact information for the HUD office in Delaware:
Wilmington Field Office
920 North King Street
Suite 404
Wilmington, DE 19801-3016
Phone: (302) 573-6300
Fax: (302) 573-6259
There are also these local programs available in Delaware:
Delaware First State Community Loan Fund Delawareans Save IDA Program (IDA) (302) 652-6774
Dover First Start Home Ownership Down Payment and Settlement Assistance Program (302) 736-7175
New Castle County Down Payment Settlement Program (DPS) (302) 395-5602
