Indiana’s IHCDA First Place or Next Home Programs

[Christopher Ochoa]

Hi there! My name is Chris Ochoa and I'm looking to get started in real estate investing in Indianapolis! I was looking into home owners incentive programs in Indiana and came across the IHCDA (or the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority) that has programs called First Place (FP) and Next Home (NH). Both offer down payment assistance (with no interest or payment plans, and potential forgiveness depending on certain criteria like not refinancing or selling the house) to home buyers who meet certain criteria that vary between counties (income, credit score, and DTI) and the purchased home is under a certain price that again varies by county. Additionally, these programs require you to go through a list of approved lenders. As someone looking to get started, I thought this may be an interesting route to take, given the programs assistance with the down payment and potential forgiveness. I'd certainly be able to make the down payment on my own without assistance from the program if I were to buy a house, but thought this could beneficial as it appears the funds can go towards other expenses like closing costs, insurance premiums, property taxes, and mortgage insurance. Also, the potential of it being forgiven is interesting.

I was curious to see if anyone in the BP community has had experience with either of these programs? I’d love to learn from their experience! Thank you for your time!