Last week a lawyer friend of mine contacted me and alerted me to the following press release from the MassHousing organization regarding a closing cost credit for all Veterans, including National Guard, Reserve members, and Gold Star Families.
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. MassHousing is not a direct originator of mortgages and instead makes home loans through 170 partner banks, mortgage lenders and credit unions across the Commonwealth. MassHousing then purchases the loans and services them from its Boston office.
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BOSTON – June 5, 2018 –
MassHousing announced today a $2,500 closing cost credit for Massachusetts military veterans who purchase a home through the Agency. The new $2,500 closing cost credit is available to Massachusetts veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, active servicemembers, and Gold Star families who purchase a home with MassHousing’s Operation Welcome Home mortgage program, a home loan program designed specifically for veterans.
“Closing costs can run into the thousands of dollars, and by helping our veterans reduce those costs, we will make homeownership more affordable for them,” said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay.
“When combined with MassHousing’s existing financing options, which offer military members and Gold Star families down payment assistance and up to 100-percent financing, this new closing cost credit will give the men and women who serve our country substantially more buying power.”
MassHousing is offering veterans the new $2,500 closing cost credit in addition to the Agency’s Operation Welcome Home mortgage product, which finances up to 97 percent of the purchase price of a single-family home or condominium. Operation Welcome Home borrowers can also use a second down payment assistance loan for 3 percent of the purchase price – or up to $12,000 – to receive 100 percent financing.
Veterans who purchase a two-, three-, or four-family home can receive up to 95 percent financing, and also use the 3-percent down payment assistance second loan, along with the $2,500 closing cost credit. MassHousing will reimburse the lender for the $2,500 closing cost credit.
Operation Welcome Home loans for which the borrower makes less than a 20-percent down payment will include MassHousing’s MIPlus™ mortgage insurance. MIPlus™ includes unemployment protection at no additional cost to the borrower. The benefit will cover the borrower’s principal and interest payments up to $2,000 for up to six months in the event of a job loss. For a member of the Reserves or National Guard, activation or deployment overseas will make them eligible for the unemployment benefit as well.
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