DCA & HMFA Remind Homebuyers About “The Road Home New Jersey” Website
New Online Tool Helps Educate Prospective Homebuyers During Busy Home Buying Season
TRENTON, N.J. – June 16, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Lori Grifa and New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Executive Director Anthony Marchetta today urged prospective homebuyers to take advantage of The Road Home New Jersey, a new consumer education tool that will help guide them in the home buying process.
“Summer is home buying season, and as market conditions put would-be homebuyers in the driver’s seat, they now have a roadmap to follow along the way to their ultimate destination of home ownership,” said Commissioner Grifa, who is chair of the HMFA. “The education campaign is particularly useful for first-time homebuyers who may be unfamiliar with the paperwork, technical phrases, and costs involved with purchasing a house.”
Launched by the DCA and HMFA in April, The Road Home New Jersey is a new consumer education initiative to help people navigate the home buying process, secure affordable home ownership and identify financing opportunities. The Road Home New Jersey’s user-friendly website, www.theroadhomenj.com, delivers concise and valuable information to prospective homebuyers.
The website’s step-by-step home buying guide with downloadable checklists leads consumers down the path to homeownership and guides them to information on financing and mortgages. The site also features personal stories from recent home buyers who have achieved their dreams of homeownership and tips to avoid likely pitfalls.
“The process of buying a home can be daunting, even to the most sophisticated consumer. The HMFA created The Road Home New Jersey campaign to help New Jersey residents understand the process and assist them in finding the right mortgage option,” said HMFA Executive Director Anthony Marchetta. “If prospective homebuyers need help with closing costs, the education initiative can assist with that as well.”
The HMFA, which is an affiliated agency of the DCA, provides attractive below-market, 30-year fixed rate mortgages and allows certain closing costs to be gifted by family members, non-profit organizations or government agencies through participating private lenders. With an HMFA mortgage, down payments of as little as three percent are permitted, if qualified. The Agency has flexible underwriting requirements.
“The HMFA offers mortgage programs that are tailor-made for first-time and urban area buyers. They are a great way to accomplish the goal of home ownership,” said Jerry Keelen, Director of Single Family Programs for the HMFA.
Other innovative HMFA programs include Smart Start, which offers down payment and/or closing cost assistance for eligible applicants and Live Where You Work, an incentive program for homebuyers purchasing in the same participating town in which they are employed.
Since its inception in 1967, the HMFA has been committed to making quality housing available at costs affordable to New Jersey residents. In addition to first-time homebuyers, the HMFA works with senior citizens in senior and assisted living facilities, people with special needs, and the state’s affordable and workforce homebuyers.
For more information about the HMFA and its housing assistance options, please call 1-800-NJHOUSE or go to http://www.nj-hmfa.com. For more information on homeownership, log on to http://www.TheRoadHomeNJ.com.
Conatct:
Hollie Gilroy
Lisa Ryan, Office of Communications
(609) 292-6055
