Assistance offered to first-time homebuyers

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced a new program on April 14 to assist first-time homebuyers.

The agency is offering up to $50,000 in loans to qualified individuals for down payments for home purchases. The funds are from Virginia Housing.

To qualify, applicants must have a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income. That is $131,000 for a family of four.

Participants also must qualify for and use a first-mortgage loan through a pre-qualified Virginia Housing Lender. And they must live in the home as their primary residence for the duration of the down payment loan.

In addition to down payment assistance, the funds can be used to reduce a first mortgage principal amount, pay closing costs, pay points to reduce the mortgage interest rate, or buy out private mortgage insurance.

“Homeownership has been out of reach for many Fairfax County families,” said Lenore Stanton, chair of the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “It is our hope that families who previously dismissed homeownership as financially out of reach might be able to use this program to buy their first home and start growing equity.”