May 18, 2013
If you ever dreamed of owning your own home, but can't afford one, one homeownership program may be for you.
It's called Dream Augusta, and its low-cost mortgages and down payment assistance may be able to help you.
It's a program that will open the doors to a new home.
"I think homeownership is a dream for a lot of people,” says Augusta mayor Deke Copenhaver.
But for many it is a dream far from reality.
Now Dream Augusta is helping potential homebuyers with low cost first mortgages, low interest rates, and down payment assistance.
Phil Cottone, director of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, says the program has been successful in other markets in Georgia.
"We also have down payments assistance in the form of a second mortgage which is zero percent down with deferred payments with no payments due until the home is paid off or no longer the primary residence," Cottone says.
The state program is teamed up with Augusta’s housing department.
Potential first time home buyers can find a home up to $160,000 as long as it is in Richmond County.
"With the Dream Augusta program we are coupling our down payment assistance with the down payment assistance available in the city," says Cottone.
Realtors say this should help them reach more clients.
"This program will allow us to qualify more buyers to buy their homes and it will assist them into getting the down payment assistance that they will need,” says J.J. Clark, a broker for Goodsense Realty.
Dream Augusta is helping people fulfill their American dream.
"What we are finding is people with incomes lower than what we typically see being able to purchase a home are now being able to do so," says Cottone.
"Anytime you get people buying homes that builds a since of pride for homeowners,” Copenhaver says. “It is going to build a since of pride for our community."
Dream Augusta is the 7th program set up in Georgia.
The others are in Valdosta, Macon, Brunswick, Savannah, Albany and Columbus.
