Business Highlight: Neighborhood Finance Corporation

By Misty Darling

Professional service with an emphasis on guidance, planning, and dedication to my clients’ needs are my top priority.

Today on the “Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard,” we’re joined by Stephanie Murphy and Terry Gearhart from the Neighborhood Finance Corporation, a nonprofit mortgage company. They’re here to share what the NFC offers and how they help buyers purchase homes.

If you’re going to take advantage of all the programs offered by the Neighborhood Finance Corporation, you need to be in an NFC lending area. What qualifies a place as an NFC lending area?

The best way to find out is to visit the interactive map on their website. There, you’ll find all the NFC lending areas shaded in green. You can even plug in the address of the house you’re interested in purchasing, and it will show you if that property is located within an NFC lending area. If a buyer is looking at a home within one of the approved lending areas, the NFC can pre-qualify them and help create a budget that will get them ready to buy.

As a nonprofit mortgage company, the NFC’s mission is neighborhood revitalization. Every loan they offer is a renovation loan; a portion of each loan goes towards improving your new or existing home. If you live in the house for more than five years, $10,000 will be forgiven. Over time, these loans can even help get entire neighborhoods up to code. These loans are funded through the NFC’s partnerships with local governments.

Renovation loans allow someone to combine the cost of home improvements and repairs with the purchase of the home into the same loan. They won’t have to do anything until after the loan is closed. Then, the NFC will do a yearly mortgage check-up with the buyer for five years. At the end of those five years, the lien for the forgivable piece of the mortgage goes away. These loans are great for those who otherwise love a house but realize that it needs something like a garage or kitchen update.

These loans benefit everyone, whether you’re a first-time homeowner or have lived in your home for decades. The great part is that there are no income limitations for these loans. As long as the home is in one of the approved lending areas, anybody can make use of them.

If you have any questions about the NFC, its lending areas, or its loan products, visit www.NeighborhoodFinance.org. For any other questions you have about buying a home, give the Misty SOLDwisch Team a call or send an email. We’d love to help you.