Combined Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and FHA Programs Expand Homeownership Opportunities for Lower-Income Families

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s matching grant first-time homebuyer programs can be used in conjunction with the FHA Streamlined Section 203(k) rehabilitation program to purchase and rehabilitate affordable homes. While single-family housing inventory is high and prices remain low, the compatibility of the Bank’s Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) and Individual Development and Empowerment Account (IDEA) grants with FHA’s Streamlined rehab program can expand homeownership opportunities for eligible lower-income families and help to stabilize communities hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The Bank’s WISH and IDEA grant programs both offer eligible low-to moderate-income households grants of up to $15,000 that can be used for downpayment and closing costs, matching $3 for every dollar contributed by the homebuyer. WISH grants are targeted to working families and individuals who are ready to make the transition from renting to owning. The IDEA program is directed at homebuyers who have been saving for the purchase of their first home through an Individual Development Account (IDA) or participating in their local housing authority’s Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) homeownership program.

Designed to assist potential homeowners with less complicated and costly rehabilitation projects than its Standard 203(k) loan program, the FHA Streamlined 203(k) program allows for minor upgrades and repairs up to $35,000. Homebuyers are able to get just one mortgage loan, at a long-term affordable fixed or adjustable rate, to finance both the acquisition and rehabilitation of the property. Escrow can close before the rehab is complete, simplifying the purchase process for both the first-time homebuyer and the lender.

“The FHA Streamlined 203(k) program is being used by many state and local housing agencies and nonprofits to put the current inventory of REO units and older homes to use as affordable housing,” said Marietta Núñez, Vice President, Community Lending, FHLBank San Francisco. “For a first-time homebuyer receiving downpayment assistance through one of the Bank’s matching grant programs, being able to also bundle repair costs into the purchase price with an FHA rehab loan really expands the possibilities of affordable homeownership.” These benefits to the buyer and participating lender are magnified, Núñez added, by the positive impact these programs can have on neighborhoods destabilized by the foreclosure crisis.

For 2009, the Bank awarded $10 million in WISH and IDEA grants to member financial institutions to help eligible first-time homebuyers achieve homeownership. Details about these programs, including a listing of members currently participating in the WISH and IDEA programs, are available on the Bank’s website.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco delivers low-cost funding and other services that help member financial institutions make home mortgages to people of all income levels and provide credit that supports neighborhoods and communities. The Bank also funds community investment programs that help members create affordable housing and promote community economic development. The Bank’s members—its shareholders and customers—are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, thrift and loans, and insurance companies headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada.