Cheryl Knowlton: Hi everybody, Cheryl Knowlton and Clay Johnson.
Clay Johnson: Hi.
Cheryl Knowlton: Coming at you with episode two of Down Payment Assistance, how to bypass the myth that you have to have 15% down. Okay so Clay, there are a lot of city and county programs, and really neat.
Clay Johnson: There’s so many and it’s so funny because when I first got into the business, I was kind of intimidated by them. Like, “Gosh. I don’t know how these work, how to do it.” Once you get a feel for it, oh my gosh, Cheryl. If somebody fits inside that box, there’s not a better way to go. For example, the Salt Lake County grant and the Salt Lake City, there are individual cities that have those as well, they can get anywhere from $5,000 dollars up to $14,000 dollars that are given to them at zero interest, zero payment while they’re in the home. Then if they’re there for five years, it’s completely forgiven.
Cheryl Knowlton: Wow.
Clay Johnson: It’s just a difference-maker. So, we had one last year and I applied for it, and it was $14,000 dollars. I got the approval back and it was $12,000 dollars. I was like, “Oh hey, we got $14,000 approved,” and it was the last one. So they do run out of money occasionally, but they get refunded pretty quickly and when they do, it’s just a great time. We always look at that as a first resource to help people out, are those city and county grant programs.
Cheryl Knowlton: That’s fantastic that you look to that first. Truthfully, having been in this industry for a really long time, I can tell you that there are a lot of lenders, even good lenders, who do not know about these programs. Imagine how valuable you can be to your buyer if you can help them tap into the resources that will provide them with free money.
Clay Johnson: Yes.
Cheryl Knowlton: Interest-free money.
Clay Johnson: Yes. As I said, it’s the best thing out there. If they fit in that, it’s just awesome. We love it.
Cheryl Knowlton: Absolutely. So, you need to call Clay so that you can figure out if your buyers fit into that magical box, and we’ll tell you more about it in episode three.
Clay Johnson: See you.