You’re interested in purchasing your first house, and you happen to reside or wish to live in South Carolina. Homebuyers in South Carolina have many government programs available to them to make the process less of a financial burden and reduce the chances of you defaulting on your home loan.
Both the government and private financial institutions offer a staggering number of grants, tax incentives, and low-interest loans for first-time home buyers. However, making use of these incentives typically mean demonstrating that you’re a trustworthy individual who has a track record for making intelligent financial decisions. If you’re known to be the kind of person whose financial history will result in you being unable to pay off your house, it’s unlikely you’ll be granted any of these special privileges. That’s not to exclude those with poor credit or coloured financial history, but being able to demonstrate your financial stability is imperative to get as many benefits as possible.
The way this stability is demonstrated is by showing that you’re able to be pre-approved for a mortgage before buying the house. After that, the road to thousands of dollars in saved payments over time is paved quite easily.
Firstly, up to $2000 can be shaved off of your taxes if you’re a first-time homeowner, and if you’re both financing and occupying the property as your primary residence.
Secondly, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives a special voucher to first-time home buyers even if their income is especially low. Should you qualify, existing rent vouchers for housing can be converted into a home purchase voucher. This voucher can be put towards home expenses or monthly mortgage payments to reduce the financial burden caused by buying a house. The hud.gov pages for South Carolina better explain the program and who’s eligible
Next, the non-profit organization Community Works Carolina offers an exceptional kind of account specific to people looking to upgrade their station in society. These accounts are known as IDAs, or Individual Development Accounts, and offers benefits such as forgivable loans and up to $4000 in grants to help close home for those who are just a few thousand short of purchasing their house. The only conditions are that you attend a free financial aid session and deposit $25 into the account each month. Each dollar deposited is matched with three dollars, up to the $4000 limit ($1000 invested, $3000 matched). Unfortunately, this program is offered primarily in the Upstate area, so it’s mainly used by people purchasing homes in the Spartanburg or Greenville areas. There are opportunities for others in South Carolina to take advantage of IDA-like offers, however, so asking a local real estate agent for more information on these programs could mean a substantial increase in your purchasing power.
The bottom line here is you don’t need to finance your home with only predatory loans or entirely by yourself. The government is making it simpler for people to own their homes in South Carolina, and opportunities like an IDA can turn only a small bit of money into a much more considerable amount.
POSTED BY 
