Buying a house in Mass. is expensive. Now the state is offering some people $50,000 to help.
A new Massachusetts program will direct $65 million to help first-time home buyers cover down payments, closing costs, and other expenses.
Buying a house in Massachusetts seems to become harder each year, particularly for lower- and middle-income residents. Now the state is putting $65 million in federal COVID relief money toward an effort to help.
State officials last week announced a new program — MassDREAMS — that will offer sizable upfront cash to first-time homebuyers in 29 communities in Massachusetts that were hit hard by the pandemic, including the state’s 26 so-called Gateway Cities, as well as Boston, Framingham, and Randolph. Those funds will help cover a down payment, closing costs, and other expenses that might otherwise serve as a barrier to homeownership for lower income residents.
Would-be buyers making less than 100 percent of the area median income — $140,200 for a family of four in Boston, for example — will be eligible for up to $50,000 in assistance, though aid will vary based on their community’s home prices. People making between 100 and 135 percent of the AMI could receive up to $35,000.
“By helping with things like closing costs, we’re helping people keep money in their pocket, so that when they purchase they’re not buying a new home with zero dollars in their savings account,” said Elliot Schmiedl, the director of homeownership at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, one of two quasi-state agencies that will handle the funding. “So this program isn’t just about achieving homeownership, but it’s also about helping folks sustain it, so that they don’t end up in a property that they can’t afford down the road.”
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