Las Vegas Homes, Condos, Land and Commercial Real Estate Blog

We have several programs in Nevada and Greater Las Vegas Valley to assist first time home buyers and I will start with the 

City of North Las Vegas first time home buyer’s down payment assistance program

You have to be represented by a Realtor, and your real estate agent and loan officer have to be certified by Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada. We are and know their favorite loan offices.

First; the definition of a first time home owner by HUD:

        Anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years or those who have been displaced due to divorce or legal separation

Amount and terms of City of North Las Vegas Down Payment Assistance Program

Terms: This is a silent second mortgage with no interest rate and is payable upon the sale of the home or condo. The down payment assistance can be up to $20,000. Additional $5,000 could be added for the police officers, fire fighters and individuals who work with the Clark County School District or medical field.

Those who plan to buy a home or condo in the following zip codes can qualify

89030, 89032, 89034, 89080, 89084, 89031, and 89081, those who plan to buy a home or condominium in the first five zip codes must verify that their home is not in the City of North Las Vegas Airport flight path. We have had two accidents where a plane hit a home in the vicinity of the N. Las Vegas Airport last year.

Zip code map for Greater Las Vegas

What are income limits that the first time home owner must have to qualify for the program?

 The First time home buyer should have a FICO score of 620 and have no bills in collections other than medical bills.

These numbers are calculated based on 80% of AMI and may change.

To determine the loan amount, debt to income ratios can’t be more than 31% / 43%. What does it mean? Front end ratios are ratios that can show you what portion of your monthly income will be go towards PITI which includes the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments. For example if the buyer makes $3000 per month, he/she can use 31% of his/her income toward paying the PITI or $930 per month.

Back end ratios or debt-to-income ratio have to do with your total monthly debt payments. These include your mortgage payments, auto or credit card debt, child support and any other loan payments.

I will try to explain this program a little bit better by an example. All figures are rough approximation and are used to explain this program only.

An example of how the City of North Las Vegas down payment assistance program works

Say a young couple with no children who make $40,000 per year want to buy a home in the City of North Las Vegas and use this program to help them with the down payment.

This couple’s income is $3,333 per month and can pay about $1,033 for their principal, interest, taxes and insurance, let’s make it $1000. If our couple gets a 30 year loan with 5.5% interest rate, they can get about $150,000 loan to buy their home; I assumed $100 tax and $50 insurance per month for their home. Now with the $30,000 down payment program, the same couple can get a $180,000 home and have the same loan payment or by putting down $30,000 from a no interest loan as down payment they pay interest on a principal of $120,000, thus cutting their mortgage payment. Additionally, they don’t have to put a lot of their own money down.

How much of the down payment does the first time home owner have to come up with?

The home buyer has to have $1000 for the down payment. This money has to come from the buyer and be seasoned in a bank account for one month, and proof is required. Additionally, the buyer must have an equivalent of two months of mortgage payments and the funds must come from the buyer. In our case, our couple had to have $2500 reserve in a bank account?

I wonder how many renters have no idea that they can actually buy a better home or condo than they are presently renting and pay less for mortgage than monthly rent.

What the first time home buyer has to do to qualify for the down payment assistance next. For more info, Call Masoud or Karen at 702-478-7800