USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Loans
The current economic times are challenging to be certain. If you are a potential home buyer in Pierce County and you have not looked into the USDA Rural Home Loan Program you need to. This article is an update to a previous article that I wrote last year on USDA loans. I receive many inquires about the program. I hope that this article will provide more answers your questions.
In my opinion it is very important that a home buyer is working with both a real estate agent and a mortgage lender who are up to date with any lending program that will be utilized to buy a home. USDA Rural Loans are an excellent option for you the buyer. Make sure who you work with is familiar with the program.
USDA Loans are available in many areas of Pierce County. This link will take you directly to the USDA site for Pierce County property eligibility. Take a look at the map. Most of Pierce County is potentially eligible for a USDA Rural Loan. You can enter an address and see if it is considered eligible for USDA financing.
Buying a rural home does not mean you have to be living on a farm down a dirt road. Yes, you cannot live in urban areas like Tacoma or Seattle. Yet, you can live outside of the city limits and be in a rural development. The map below (click to see larger image) shows the areas of Pierce County that do not qualify for USDA loans. Notice that the city of Tacoma is the majority of the map. Most of south Pierce County qualifies. Bonney Lake, parts of South Hill of Puyallup, Graham, much of Gig Harbor, and DuPont for example are all potential areas to buy a home using USDA financing.
There are two types of USDA RURAL Development Home Loans.
- Section 502 Direct loans
- Eligible low income applicants who cannot obtain credit elsewhere
- Adjusted household income at or below 80% of median income for county
- A satisfactory credit history
- Stable source of income
- U.S. Citizen
- Guaranteed Rural Housing Loans
- No Down Payment Loan
- 2% fee can be financed up t0 102% Loan to value
- No mortgage insurance
- Income <115% of county median
- A satisfactory credit history
- U.S. Citizen
The above bullet points are just some of the features of a USDA Rural Development Loan.
An important point to consider is that 100% financing is possible using the USDA programs. If you have satisfactory credit, stable employment, income within the very reasonable limits but limited cash, then a USDA loan might be the vehicle that will allow you to buy a home. You can also use USDA financing to purchase a building site and build a new home. New manufactured housing also can qualify.
You can find out more about the USDA Programs by requesting information here. This will send you an email with much more information.
If you would like to receive our email updates of USDA eligible homes please click here.
If you have any questions you can call us directly at (253) 353-2194 we will be happy to answer any questions you have regarding using USDA loans to purchase your new home.
Let us help you open the door to your new home.
Best wishes,
Scott Cowan
What does this mean to you the potential home buyer looking in rural areas of Pierce County? The limited funds along with the expiration of the $8,000 tax credit will be motivating factors for some people to get off the fence and make an offer on the home that they feel will be a good fit for their needs. If you have been looking online and as of yet have not actively started looking today would be a great day to make a few calls to Realtors to see who would be a good fit to help you purchase a home in the next 30 days.
