The NeighborhoodLIFT Phoenix down payment assistance program was created to provide home loan help for home buyers in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. Administered by Trellis (formerly the Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix, or NHS Phoenix), up to $7,500 can be given to those participating in the program for use toward a down payment and/or closing costs.
NeighborhoodLIFT Phoenix shares some of the same features and regulations as the other available down payment assistance programs in Arizona: Home in Five, Home Plus, Arizona HFA Preferred, the Pima Tucson Homebuyer’s Solution, the City of Phoenix Open Doors, the American Dream DPI, the Chenoa Fund, and the Home Success Mortgage Credit Certificate, which we’ll go into below.
Instituted in 2012, the NeighborhoodLIFT Phoenix program is available in 77 housing markets in the United States, including both Phoenix and Tucson. Over 24,000 borrowers have benefitted from the investment of nearly $400 million by Wells Fargo.
Homebuyer Eligibility and How to Access
To receive funding from NeighborhoodLIFT Phoenix, borrowers will need to execute the following steps:
- Contact Trellis and enroll in the mandatory eight hour homebuyer educational course. Though no income analysis or securing of LIFT funds occurs at this stage, a signed purchase agreement and loan pre-approval is necessary.
- Get pre-approved with a mortgage loan officer for a home loan. They’ll also determine income eligibility, property location needs, time requirements and the timeline ahead, additional logistics, and that NeighborhoodLIFT funds are still available.
- Complete the aforementioned homebuyer education course from an approved provider. Prospective buyers can find a list of HUD-approved Housing Counseling agencies providing the course locally through hud.gov.
- The fun part: find your home within the city of Phoenix!
- Bring a signed purchase contract to your loan officer. They’ll work with you to sign a form consenting to share information with Trellis as part of the program determination.
- With an accepted purchase contract, and pre-approval from a mortgage lender, you’ll need to review the down payment assistance with a Trellis pre-purchase counselor.
- Finally, your lender will send the completed home loan package to Trellis, who will process the secondary financing.
Borrowers will be required to meet area median income (or AMI, which is a statistic by HUD for the purposes of determining the eligibility of applicants for certain federal housing programs) as well as apply for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, which can be an FHA, VA, USDA, or a conventional loan.
To learn more about the NeighborhoodLIFT Phoenix down payment assistance program, contact your local licensed loan officer and determine if this program is something you’re eligible for.