MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009 7:30 am

Income limits for NSP grant  Household size Income Cap 1  $54,500 2  $62,300 3  $70,100 4 $77,900 5 $84,100 6 $90,350 7 $96,550 8 $102,800 Like a kid at Christmas, Ryan Mefford moved through his new house giving the grand tour. Needless to say, he’s excited about buying his first home. “It’s definitely great,” the 22-year-old said while standing on the back deck. “I cut the grass for the first time today. That was cool.” But what Mefford is most excited about is the more than $30,000 in help he got from Murfreesboro’s Community Development Department to buy the $103,000 house off Bradyville Pike. A majority of the money came from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which gives income-eligible, first-time buyers who purchase a vacant, foreclosed home in an eligible census tract a forgivable, no-interest loan of $14,999 to help pay down payment and closing costs. Qualifying homebuyers must meet the following requirements: • Total household income at or below 120 percent of area median income; • Be pre-approved for permanent first mortgage with Tennessee Housing Development Agency; • Attend a THDA homebuyer education class; • Make a minimum 1 percent down payment; • Have an executed contract of sale prior to filing an application with the city; • Meet loan-underwriting requirements of the city’s Affordable Housing Assistance Program. Murfreesboro’s NSP loan is forgiven at a rate of 20 percent per year over five years. New owners must also agree to live in the home as their primary residence for five years. The program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is intended to mitigate the effects of the housing crisis in the hardest hit areas. “Murfreesboro has not been immune to the effects of the crisis,” said John Callow, Murfreesboro’s Community Development Director. “Unfortunately, NSP was not set up to help homeowners who are having mortgage problems stay in their homes …” Callow said, adding the program is designed to move people into foreclosed homes. “With NSP, we’re trying to turn lemons into lemonade.” And Mefford found a lemon. The three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,300 square-foot home had stood empty for two years before he put in his offer. “For a foreclosure, it’s in pretty good shape,” he said. But with a little elbow grease and sweat equity, he can turn the lemon into lemonade. And the financial help is just the cherry on top. “$15,000 is a lot of money,” the car salesman at Reddell Honda said, adding he also qualified for the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and about $10,000 in a no-interest, second mortgage for down payment and closing cost assistance. The extra cash comes from the CDD’s Affordable Housing Assistance program, which gives qualified buyers, like Mefford, a no-interest loan with funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that must be repaid upon sale of the home. “On a house that’s an appreciating asset that’s a good deal,” Mefford said. He said the hardest part is finding an eligible census tract, because that information isn’t readily available to the public. “You pretty much have to pick a house and have a realtor look it up,” he said. CDD Grant Coordinator Patty Pope said some eligible census tracts, like the Blackman area, straddle the city limits so it’s hard to say whether a foreclosed home is in the city limits and qualifies for the program without looking it up. “Some are not in the city, but are in the census tract,” she said. The Community Development Department is also using Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to buy vacant, foreclosed homes to be resold to income-eligible buyers. The profits made from the sales will be reinvested with additional properties to continue the cycle, Pope said. Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.