NASA's 100% Financing Not Just For Rocket Scientists

• May 17th 2011

by Mark Wellborn

If you live in DC, Maryland or Virginia, you can take advantage of the same no down payment loans that are now being offered to astronauts and rocket scientists.

In early April, the NASA Federal Credit Union (which was founded in 1949 for NASA employees, but now works with 75,000 individuals) announced a promotion that offers borrowers 100 percent financing for primary home purchases up to $650,000, or five percent down on loans up to $850,000. The financing is available for new primary residence purchases or refinances of a current primary residence, in Maryland, Virginia and DC. The credit union will offer adjustable rate loans and 15-year fixed rate loans, which it will keep on its balance sheet.

Credit union officials told The Wall Street Journal at the end of April that it will offer no-money-down loans “until a pre-determined lending volume is exhausted”:

The offer will be limited to “highly-qualified” borrowers, who will face tougher underwriting and greater scrutiny of home appraisals. Bill White, the vice president for mortgage lending at NASA Federal says the company has been analyzing the product for the last six months and that it’s well aware of the increased risk of making no-money-down loans. But he says the company believes it can offset that risk by making loans to very high credit quality borrowers.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/nasas_100_financing_not_just_for_rocket_scientists/3505.