A new program started last month that I think is pretty exciting! It is called Your Way Home AZ. The gist of this program is that if you meet certain income guidelines and can be approved for a mortgage you could get 22% in purchase assistance from the Arizona Department of Housing when buying an eligible  foreclosed home. Basically the state will loan you 22% of the purchase price at zero percent interest, that you do not have to pay back if you live in the home for a certain amount of time. If that 22% is $15,000 or less that the amount of time you have to stay in the house is 5 years, $15,000 - $40,000 you have to live in the home for 10 years.   Eligible foreclosed homes are basically ones that have no major issues but may need a little cleaning before moving in, or move in ready homes. Trust me, while there are a lot of forecloses that need a lot of work there are also eligible foreclosed homes on the market right now.  In order to get this money from the program you have to use a lender that is approved to do this program and they will explain it more thoroughly to you. You will also have to attend an 8 hour  home buyer education class at a Non profit. When else have you basically gotten $15,000 or more for sitting in a class for 8 hours?

In other exciting news Tucson has been celebrating it 234th birthday all month, and there will be a big party on August 20th in the Downtown area!  To celebrate Tucson's birthday, the 4th Avenue underpass is being reopened at 4pm on August 20th! The 4th Ave. underpass has been underconstruction for the past 2 years and has made it difficult to walk from the 4th Ave. area to Downtown.  Something I usually only do during Club Crawl, twice a year, but that extra several blocks really kills my feet, no matter what shoes I am wearing.   If you have never made it down to 4th Ave., or it been at least a decade you may enjoy attending this event in which several City Council members including Karen Uhlich and Nina Trasoff will be there  along  with live music,  an Antique and Hot Rod car show and merchant specials. My personal favorite spots in the area are Bison Wiches and The Shanty ( on 4th) and Hotel Congress (Downtown). I hope to see you there!