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Community

Our Community grant is paired with a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage, and is a $3,000-$5,000 grant depending on eligibility and income.  It’s available in MD, DC and VA. This grant may be used towards a down payment or closing costs.  The mortgage is based on the Home Possible mortgage. Community has a maximum income cap of 140% of area median income.  In the DMV that income cap as of January 2025 is $214,060.

In addition to the grant, Community also offers a reduced mortgage insurance premium cost just like Home Possible!

The minimum required down payment is 3% of the purchase price, and closing costs are additional.  In 2025, the maximum loan amount is $806,500.

Community can be used to finance houses including townhouses and rowhouses, condominiums, co-ops, and 2-unit properties.  3-4 unit properties are ineligible.

The program is not restricted to first time home buyers! Furthermore, owning up to one financed property already is allowed.  If you have never owned real estate, or haven’t owned real estate within the past three years, you’ll need to complete a homebuyer education class.  I’ve heard great feedback from numerous clients on the class, and the class should take ~2 hours to complete.  A link to the class is here: https://creditsmart.freddiemac.com/paths/homebuyer-u/

For a property to be eligible for the maximum possible $5,000 grant, a buyer’s income must be under 80% of area median income ($122,320 in the DMV), and meet geographic requirements. Those geographic requirements are either a) the property must be within a census tract that is at least 50.01% minority population, or b) the buyer must have lived for at least the past year within a census tract that is at least 50.01% minority population.  We use the 2024 census tract designations from this Census website https://geomap.ffiec.gov/ffiecgeomap/

If a buyer’s income is over $122,320 OR the buyer doesn’t meet the geographic requirements, the grant is limited to up to $3,000.  For a buyer with qualifying income $122,321-$214,060, the geographic requirements must be met, and the grant is $3,000.

The program has a minimum income of 50% of area median income. For a buyer whose income is less than that, they may be eligible for up to a $5,500 grant instead. Learn more: https://alexjaffe.com/one

 

Questions? ajaffe@firsthome.com or 240 479 7658

Ready to pre-qualify?

Schedule an appointment to consult with me: calendly.com/alexjaffe/30min

 

This program is a conventional loan  (not an FHA nor a VA nor a USDA loan). This program is not compatible with bond loan programs like DC Open Doors, VHDA, Maryland Mortgage Program, or HOC. This program is also not compatible with FHLB nor Heroes.