First-Timer Primer Follow-Up: DC Homebuyer Assistance Programs, Part II

• June 14th 2022

by Nena Perry-Brown

As an addendum to our First-Timer Primer piece on Homebuyer Assistance Programs in Washington, DC, UrbanTurf is highlighting a couple of additional programs today that were recently brought to our attention. 

• DC4ME is a program administered by the DC Housing Finance Agency, geared towards first-time homebuyers who are also full-time employees of the DC government or the government's independent agencies. Eligible buyers can secure a first trust mortgage at a below-market interest rate. The program covers employees who may not typically be eligible for the Employer Assisted Housing Program. Buyers can also combine this program with DC Open Doors and the Home Purchase Assistance Program. 

• The Reduced Recordation Tax Rate for First-Time Homebuyers is not quite a program, but rather an option available to a broader range of DC buyers who are in the buying process. (Recordation tax is a tax imposed for recording the deed of the home.) If applied before the recordation tax is charged, the rate would be 0.725% instead of the standard 1.45% for buyers of houses and condos, and 1.825% instead of 2.2% for buyers of co-op units less than $400,000. For buyers of co-op units sold for more than $400,000, the rate would drop to 2.175% instead of 2.9%. To be eligible, the property must be a primary residence with a sales price no higher than $658,500, although the household income is above the area median income (ie. no more than $162,540 for a household of one, no more than $232,200 for a household of four).

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-first-timer-primer-follow-up-more-resources-for-new-dc-homebuyers/18559.