First the federal government came up with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 which provides for a tax credit of up to $8,000 or a maximum of 10% of the sale price of a home for buyer who have not owned a home in the past three years.

Sounds like a good deal but a lot of otherwise qualified buyers were still being left out because even though they were able to qualify creditwise they were cash poor and just didn't have enough available funds to take advantage of the tax credit.

Enter a new program from the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA). Now you can actually borrow, via a second mortgage on your new home, up to 3.5% of the down payment amount which is not coincidentally the minimum down payment required for FHA financing.

Basically all you need is a minimum 620 credit score, debt to income ratio not more than 45%, and you have to attend a short class that educates you on how to become a responsible homeowner; pretty easy stuff for most.

The interest rate on your down payment loan is 0% until as long as June 1st of 2010 and at that time you can either repay it with your $8,000 tax credit or begin making payments on it at just 1% over your current first mortgage rate for 10 years.

So if you have a 5% first mortgage and borrow, let's say $3,500 for your 3.5% down payment you can pay it off at 6% interest at a monthly payment of $38.86 per month.

If that's something that you think might put you into a new home, give me a call at (865) 693-3232 or email me and let's sit down to talk about making you a homeowner.

See over 5,000 Knox County single family home and condos for sale at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

Here's just a couple of Knoxville area homes that you can buy today.

This charming 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is located in north Knoxville and priced at only $129,900!

Attractive basement rancher on large lot with woods in back and a lot for the money; $149,900