John- Yes. Louisiana has some great deals... from financing to go-zone incentives. There are still specialty loans such as rural housing as well... but many of these programs are being phased out or going away.

Marilyn- Exactly. Some of the incentives and loan programs are of the too-good-too-be-true type. However- the down payment programs I'm speaking of are those that accompany FHA products ... such as Ameridream. On the other side of the coin are these new-legislation programs... I'll be posting more about these later and so will everyone, I assume. :-)

Debbie- In Phoenix there is this chicken-and-egg problem. Many of the builders have used down payment assistance as a means to sustain sales. Along one corridor dpa has been used in 90% of all new home sales transactions. The new housing rules not only takes away the dpa but also raise down payment requirements on many loans from 3% to 3.5%. My guess is that the housing relief may dampen sales more than increase them. In a perfect market it should be inconsequential.... meaning those who don't qualify shouldn't be buying anyway. However it is a pendulum swing from easy money and low credit purchasing of a few years ago to raising requirements during a time of financial woe. When persons with what used to be deemed "good credit" can no longer qualify for a traditional loan ... and many loan products falling by the wayside every other week we could be in for a longer recovery than many expect. I suspect we'll see innovators find ways to make home purchasing more affordable- however, like always, we'll be doing our best to figure out the value of these loans, incentives and other programs that will come out. Thankfully- many of the predatory/harmful loan products have fallen by the wayside... as we can all see that some of these instruments definitely had a hand in the lending crisis that precipitated the housing lull.

Thanks Paul... I'm gonna put that one on the radar screen for sure.

Jackie- There are specific programs that are going away... one of which being the Ameridream program. Although these charitable groups have a very high success rate (94%) in helping turn renters into buyers, they also have a negative impact on the economy because those who've used down payment assistance programs have are prominent among the current foreclosures. So... we could have a chicken-or-egg argument here.... do DPA programs cause foreclosures? Does turning renters into buyers have a positive or negative effect? Will raising down payment requirements help or hurt in the short or long term?

The expiration of DPA is set for October 1... my feeling is that it will hinder sales in the short term... which may not be a bad thing if it has an overall positive effect on the economy.