Creative financing and down payment assistance

[Brandon Pelfrey]

(Disclaimer: I'm definitely anewbie, so sorry if this question is elementary) I've done some reading about using creative financing, however I recently spoke with a loan officer about different ways that I could get a specific deal financed and her told me that it is illegal to get any financial assistance for your down payment (i.e. if you're going to get a mortgage on a property 100% of the down payment has to be your own money that got earned and cannot be money that was gifted or borrowed). Can anyone validate this? And what are some ways you have used creative financing to get a deal done?

[Jared Bouzek]

@Troy H. Community 2nds are down payments assistance programs that are backed by a community program that is designed to encourage home ownership among lower income people. They are typically backed by funding from a government organization such as the city or county. Down payment assistance is provided in the form of a 2nd mortgage and each one can be designed differently. Some of them are forgiven after a certain period of time. Some of them you never have to make payments on - you just pay them off when you sell the home. It just depends on the program.