Are you thinking of buying your first home in Oregon? 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 Oregon provides free grant money for its residents who are first time home buyers 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 Oregon provides.
Oregon First Time Home Buyer Grants
The agency in Oregon that provides assistance is The Oregon Housing and Community Services. OHCS provides down payment grants up to $5,000.00. To get more details on this program, please visit the Oregon Housing and Community Services website page specifically describing how the program works. Just navigate to this website.
OHCS has awarded $725,325 to nine organizations for providing downpayment assistance to first-time home buyers. The awards are funded by the state’s document recording fee, which we use to expand the state’s supply of home ownership housing for low- and very low-income families and individuals, with particular focus on undeserved populations.
The newly awarded funds will allow the organizations to continue or expand their existing down payment assistance programs. Home buyers, who have completed a home ownership education program, may qualify for up to $5,000 for a down payment and/or closing costs.
Here is the contact information for Oregon Housing and Community Services:
OHCS
725 Summer Street NE, Suite B
Salem, OR 97301-1266
Phone: 503-986-2000
Fax: 503-986-2020
TTY: 503-986-2100
Federal First Time Home Buyer Grants
Besides the state programs, there are federal funds and grants available to the home buyers in Oregon 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.
You 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. You should plan to spend the required time investigating to determine how many individual grants you may qualify for. You can visit the website by going to Grants.gov and use the handy search tool to search for more information.
Other First Time Home Buyer Grants in Oregon
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 website.
Here is the contact information for the HUD office in Oregon:
Portland Field Office
400 SW 6th Avenue
Suite700
Portland, OR 97204-1632
Phone: (971) 222-2600
Fax: (971) 222-0357
There are also these local programs:
Clackamas County Homeowner Assistance Program (CHAP) (503) 655-8591
Corvallis First Time Home Buyer Program (FTHP) (541) 766-6944
Eugene Homebuyer Assistance Program (HAP) (541) 682-5529
Portland Housing Center Closing Cost Assistance (CAP) (503) 282-7744
Portland Housing Center Mortgage Assistance Program 20 Targeted (MAP 20T) and City Wide (MAP 20C) (503) 282-7744
Portland Shared Appreciation Mortgage Program (SAM) (503) 823-3401
Salem Deferred Payment Loan (DPL) (503) 588-6173
Springfield Home Ownership Program (SHOP) (541) 726-3799
