MaineHousing’s First Home Program provides low fixed rate mortgages to help Maine people buy homes of their own – often with little or no down payment. Mortgage options are available with no points and low points – you choose what’s right for you.
First Home interest rates are usually lower than market interest rates for similar products. Lower interest rates mean lower monthly payments. This can save thousands of dollars -- and often tens of thousands of dollars -- over the full term of a loan. To see how much a MaineHousing mortgage can save you, compare the effect of a MaineHousing interest rate and a market rate using an online mortgage calculator.
All First Home mortgages also come with payment protection for unemployment. If you are a MaineHousing borrower in good standing and become unemployed, Maine HOPE – HomeOwnership Protection for unEmployment – may be able to help by making four MaineHousing mortgage payments, including taxes and homeowners insurance. The amount paid becomes a junior mortgage lien, with no interest, that is repaid when you pay off your MaineHousing mortgage or stop using the home as your primary residence. It’s a little added protection for you and your home.
MaineHousing mortgage options include:
- - Discount points may be paid at closing to reduce your interest rate. MaineHousing offers both a zero point and a two point mortgage option. Whether payment of points makes financial sense for you may depend on how long you think you’ll stay in your home without refinancing your mortgage.
- - A MaineHousing loan with mortgage insurance can help you buy a home with little or no down payment. MaineHousing's Gift of Green includes a grant to help you with down payment and closing costs.
- - The Purchase Plus Improvement option finances the purchase and repair of a home with one loan. If you are eligible, you may include between $500 and $35,000 for home improvements
in your mortgage, as long as the cost of the home plus improvements does not exceed program purchase price limits.
- - MaineHousing offers mortgages for single- and double-wide mobile homes located on owned or leased land. The Mobile Home Self-Insured option provides financing for mobile home property types that are ineligible for private or federal mortgage insurance. With this program option, there is a purchase price limit of $150,000 statewide, interest rates will be a little higher, and the term of the loan is based on the age of the mobile home.
MaineHousing has been a trusted source for mortgage financing for over 30 years.