In Spring Hill Florida we have enjoyed the benefits of the 100% USDA Rural Housing loan, as Hernando County has been considered a "Defined Rural Area". This means that our residents can purchase a home with no money down with no restrictions to seller paid closing costs. This has been a tremendously popular loan, and in fact has kept the steady movement of home sales, even in this recession.
This week the USDA came out with a statement that will drastically affect the loans, and therefore the home sales in Spring Hill, Florida and its northern neighbor, Royal Highlands. The eligibility boundaries have not changed in 10 years. The populations have swelled in these two communities, creating an urban status that will make both communities ineligible for the USDA Rural Housing loan.
The Agency is required to review rural areas for continued eligibility after the release of the decennial 2011 U.S. Census as well as additional reviews every 3 years or 5 years, depending on population growth. In Florida, no changes were made since 2002 even though some areas have seen tremendous population growth.
In Florida, a total of 6 counties that were once considered completely eligible will now have some ineligible areas: Collier, Flagler, Hernando, Martin, Nassau, and Sumter.
Nine (9) counties previously designated with some non-rural area remain unchanged: Charlotte, Duval, Escambia, Indian River, Leon, Okaloosa, Palm Beach, Santa Rosa, and Seminole.
Dade County joins Broward, Pinellas, and Monroe that are totally ineligible.
Other counties previously containing non-rural areas have experienced enormous population growth that mandated expansion of the ineligible areas. They are: Bay, Brevard, Clay, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, Sarasota, Sarasota, St Johns, St Lucie, and Volusia.
If you would like to see a description of the changes, go to http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/fl/Eareas.pdf .
When the Agency process is completed, the final official maps will be posted to the ‘eligibility' web site: http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility (note: do not use a "www").
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