(WSVN) – Owning a home is part of the American dream, but steep prices are keeping that dream from becoming a reality for many. A Miami-Dade County program is hoping to change that in today’s spotlight. Here’s Heather Walker.
Home sweet home!
Matthew Pigatt: “It’s great. I’m so happy to be home. It is awesome. We’re able to have space to play, to eat. It’s in a welcoming community.”
It’s all smiles in Matthew Pigatt’s house. He was able to afford a house in Miami Gardens that’s big enough for his family of four without leaving South Florida.
Matthew Pigatt: “We were looking for further north in Central Florida and also in Georgia. Not only do you have the housing prices going up, you have interest rates going up and also the insurance costs.”
Their story is like many others here. Surging home prices have people thinking about leaving the Sunshine State, but Matthew found help in Miami-Dade that’s made his dream of a bigger home possible.
Zachary Rinkins, Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust: “The Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust Homeownership Assistance Program has a simple message for the residents out here in Miami-Dade County: your home ownership dreams are possible.”
The Homeownership Assistance Program is helping low-to-moderate income residents buy a home in Miami-Dade County, giving people a zero-interest loan of up to $28,500 that can be used toward a down payment and closing costs, making it easier to qualify for a mortgage.
Zachary Rinkins: “This program makes the dream of home ownership possible for a lot of people. You can use this resource and stack it with other grants to make your home purchase cheaper. You can also leverage it to make your financing cheaper, so it makes you have smaller payments for your mortgage.”
More than 8,000 people have purchased a home through this program in Miami-Dade County. In addition to help with the loan, there’s also a support system to help you through the process.
Zachary Rinkins: “Once you come to our program, you have to be connected to a Housing and Urban Development certified counseling agency. The people that were connected to the support systems were more likely to be aware of that funding and apply for that funding and keep their homes.”
That support system helped Matthew navigate through his home-buying process.
Matthew Pigatt: “It was a very welcoming process. The staff there is amazing, and I encourage anyone to take full advantage of the program, because the resources are there for you.”
Resources that can make the American dream of home ownership become a reality for you.
Heather Walker, 7News.
To find out if you qualify for the homeownership assistance program, click here.
If you know of a person, place or group that you think we should highlight, email us at 7spotlight@wsvn.com.
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