Of interest to first-time buyers
From Times wire reports
The state’s affordable-housing bank is offering a new loan to residents struggling to buy their first homes. The California Housing Finance Agency’s fixed-rate, 35-year loan -- an alternative to the mortgage industry’s conventional 30-year loan -- offers borrowers interest-only payments for the first five years before repayment of the principal begins.
Unlike the increasingly popular interest-only loans in the private sector, which come with variable-rate interest, the agency’s loans keep the same interest rate for 35 years. First-time buyers can also qualify for no money down or a variety of state-run down-payment assistance programs.
The current interest rate for the program is 5.25%.
