Grants for Grads
To qualify, residents must have:
• Graduated from an Ohio high school;
• Apply within 18 months of earning an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree;
• Live in the home for at least 5 years;
• Have an income of $83,040 or less for a household of up to two people, or $96,880 or less for three people or more;
• Purchase a home priced at $360,437 or less.
COLUMBUS — Ohio college graduates now have a new option for getting financial assistance to purchase a home.
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has launched the Grants for Grads program, which gives borrowers 2.5 percent of the home’s purchase price within 18 months of graduating from college. Grads must stay in the house for at least five years, or else the funds must be repaid, according to Erin Biehl, spokeswoman for the OHFA.
To qualify, residents must have graduated from an Ohio high school and apply for the program within 18 months of earning an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or other post-graduate degree. The funds will be awarded as a second mortgage loan with a zero percent interest rate that is forgivable after five years. Grads can attend almost any school in the country to qualify, but the buyer’s mortgage must go through a program-affiliated lender, Biehl said.
There are income and purchase restrictions. Butler and Warren County residents must have an income of $83,040 or less for a household of up to two people, or $96,880 or less for three people or more. Also, the home’s purchase price cannot exceed $360,437.
Only home purchases made beginning Oct. 19 and onward will qualify. An end date has not yet been established, but the program was part of the two-year state budget passed in July. Biehl said about $1 million has been set aside for the program so far.
The OHFA is unsure how many participants Grants for Grads may garner, though the expiration of the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers on Nov. 30 could boost participation, Biehl said.
“We are not sure what the interest level is going to be yet,” she said. “It could be very little or it could be a lot.”
Middletown resident Terrance Ostbye, 22, said his procrastination may actually pay off thanks to this program.
“I waited until the last minute to jump in the housing market, but now I can get more money thanks to this,” the recent graduate of Sinclair Community College in Dayton said. “Good news now would be the feds extending their tax credit, too.”
The program was established as an effort to reduce the number of students leaving the state upon earning their degrees.
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