When I was about 4 or 5 years old our family moved several times. I remember sleeping on people’s couches and not having a bed of my own. My father had addiction problems and my mom did everything she could to keep a roof over our heads. For my entire childhood my parents never owned their own home. I would always ask my parents, “When can we get a home of our own and have a yard to play in?” My childhood dream never came true. 

When I first got married I had a conversation with my mother-in-law. I told her that her son and I would never own our own home. I told her that my parents never owned their own home and that we probably wouldn’t, either. She told me that I was wrong; that we would own our own home someday, but I didn’t believe it.

As we all know, purchasing a home can be a very expensive endeavor. There is an earnest money deposit to the title company to open escrow, down payment, inspections, realtor fees and closing costs. These expenses can be $10,000 or more out of your pocket.

What I have learned as an employee of the Nevada Rural Housing Authority is that there are programs that can help with these expenses. NRHA’s Home At Last™ Bond Program offers a FREE cash down payment grant equal to 3% of the loan amount and a low 4.5% 30-year fixed mortgage rate. You can qualify if you have not owned a home in the last 3 years and you are within the income guidelines.

Home at Last™ is helping my family buy our first home by providing a down payment grant of nearly $5,000. This grant is a tremendous help. It is cutting the costs of buying a home in half, and we don’t have to pay it back.

Of course, it wasn’t just Home at Last™ that made buying a home a reality for us. We have been diligently saving for years. Home prices have finally come down to the point that we feel we can afford to buy. We are tired of living in someone else’s home and paying their mortgage instead of our own. And we really want to raise our kids in a place they know is theirs.

After eleven years of marriage, and our second baby on the way, we are finally buying our own home with the help of Nevada Rural Housing Authority and Home At Last™ We are expected to close escrow by December 17^th, 2010 and move in to our 1^st new home before Christmas. A new baby and a new home, who could ask for a better Christmas present?