HomeReady Mortgage Program Questions!

[RD Delgado]

Hello Bigger Pockets Lenders and Investors!

I wanted to see if anyone has experience with the new HomeReady mortgage program.

http://themortgagereports.com/18653/homeready-mortgage-guidelines-interest-rates/

In addition to hearing your general impression, I wanted to know if there was a map of areas in which one could use the HomeReady program.  

For example, the program is available in areas with high concentration of minorities. It is also available in "designated disaster areas" as determined by FEMA. Both of those qualifications could allow much of southern California to qualify. But it would be immensely helpful if there was a way to more specifically determine which areas would qualify, e.g. a map.

Any ideas from lenders or active investors in LA like  @Sharad M. @Albert Bui @Logan Drew or others whom I'm unable to tag @jerrypadilla @joffreylong @billevans?

Thanks in advance.

RD

[Albert Bui]

There are plenty of programs that have lower down even with 2-4 unit primary residences like Fannie Mae "My Community," but the problem is that while it is 5% down for 2-4 unit's I have not found any MI company who will insure the loan.

My Community or MCM program requires first time buyer (no primary residences within the last 3 years) and AMI income limits similar to home ready.

The easiest way to bridge that MI provider gap and have a "low down payment," program is to use FHA but, the downside is the upfront and monthly MI payments. There are some ways to structure the loan to reduce the MI hit and to create more effective returns as a "house hack," and or "live in investor."

If you also value add through forced, market, or found equity techniques then you may be able to obtain enough equity where you can do a conventional refinance later on and remove the monthly MI.

This is a good strategy but you'd have to buy correctly or lucky with the market appreciation in order to get that equity needed.