1st Time Home Buyers

Basics you will want to know

If you are looking to buy a house for the 1st time here are some basics you will want to know. When you are buying a house you are buying two things, a house and most importantly, a loan. We will make sure you get the best loan you can buy. This will take added work, but will save you tens of thousands and maybe keep you from losing your house.

Income

With family monthly income as low as $3,500* you can buy a home.
All sources of income have to have proof and verifiable paperwork.

Income can be from:
Salary, wages, part-time and seasonal work, SSI, Retirement, Welfare Foster Care, Child Support, Alimony, Disability, Gifts, and others.
Food stamps cannot be used as income as of 1997.

* Projected figure with Down Payment Assistance.

Credit

We can help you improve your credit and increase your score. Most all of our successful home buying families started with fair-to-bad credit. With a little work we can help you enhance that credit and get a home loan.

Collections, judgments, charge-offs, liens; in most cases do have to be paid off prior to ownership.

Cash

We have access to several down payment assistance programs that can greatly lower the cash you need. All of our successful families spend between $2,000 and $2,500 total cash to get a home, depending on family income and the house purchased. That is total cash, including down payment and all loan closing costs.

Down Payment Assistance

STAND has partnered with San Joaquin County’s Neighborhood Preservation Division to Provide qualified buyers GAP Loans. These loans provide deferred down payment assistance loans to low income, first time home buyers.  GAP loans can vary between $40,000 and $80,000 depending on the purchase price of the house. GAP funds will not cover the whole cost, therefore a 1st mortgage loan is still needed to cover the remainder cost of the house. These loans have a geographical restriction, as they are only applicable to homes purchased in Unincorporated County areas.

To be eligible for the GAP Loan Program, families need to be low-income as defined by San Joaquin County income standards. The table below shows the income limits per family size.

Family Size	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Annual Income	$42,000	$48,000	$54,000	$60,000	$64,800	$69,600	$74,400	$79,200

To learn more about the process to qualify and apply for the program call 209-468-3157 or visit their webpage at https://www.sjgov.org/commdev/cgi-bin/cdyn.exe/handouts-neighpresv/Gap-CountyDownPMT.pdf.

Documentation

Documents you will need to Pre-qualify for A Loan.

• Taxes with W2’s for the last two (2) years.
• Recent Check stub for each job worked this year.
• If income from SSI, SSA, DISABILITY, or RETIREMENT, then a copy of the Award Letter and copy of recent check, if not Direct Deposit.
• If Child Support and/or Alimony Income, then copy of court order.
• Bank Statements, recent, for all accounts.
• I.D: Drivers License, SSI Card, or Resident alien card (green card).

Home Loans

1st Mortgage

We will pre-qualify you for a Class A Mortgage Loan. Typically a fixed rate loan with FHA or CalHFA (a State agency that helps low-income home buyers), who has the lowest interest rate possible. This gives the low monthly payment that your family can afford.

2nd Mortgage

For income qualified low-income families we can get you a San Joaquin County GAP (down payment assistance) loan. These 2nd loans greatly lower your monthly payment, and eliminate the need for you to make a large cash down payment.

Loan Pre-qualification – Preferred Lenders

We always prefer to work with a local mortgage lender. They have the most experience with the typical working class Stockton family buying their first home. Following are some lenders that we have had a lot of excellent experience working with and highly recommend their services.