PRESS RELEASE
Applications available from Boothbay Region Housing Trust
Tue, 06/20/2023 - 8:45am
The Boothbay Region Housing Trust is excited to announce that applications for first-time buyers to purchase one of the seven new affordable homes being built by the Trust in Boothbay Harbor are now available in the Boothbay Harbor, Boothbay, Edgecomb, and Southport town offices and on the Trust website: www.boothbayregionhousingtrust.com. Buyers will be selected by lottery from a pool of qualified applicants on August 14, 2023, and the homes are scheduled for occupancy in the fall of 2023.
The Trust encourages applicants to take advantage of homebuyer assistance programs that offer significant financial assistance to qualifying buyers. Bath Savings Bank and other lenders participating in Maine’s First Generation Pilot Program are offering buyers who have never lived in a home owned by biological parents or a legal guardian or have been in foster care sometime during childhood the opportunity to purchase affordable housing in the region. To help overcome the most significant barriers to home ownership, the program offers a below-market fixed interest rate, a $10,000 grant for the down payment, and closing cost assistance. In addition to meeting certain income and other criteria outlined in the application, to participate in The First Generation Program, the applicant is required to attend a Home Buyer Education class. The 2023 Homebuyer Education Class is posted at http://www.mainehomeworks.org/class .
Buyers who do not qualify under the First Generation Program but are first-time buyers (have never owned a home or have not owned a home within the past three years) may qualify under the First Home Loan Program. This program provides buyers who take the Homebuyer Education Class online or in person a mortgage rate of up to a 1% reduction and up to $3,500 credit toward closing costs.