$25,000 Free Down Payment! Kamala Harris Proposal

Looking at buying your first home? Kamala Harris is proposing a $25,000 down payment assistance program that would give $25,000 to first time home buyers to help with their down payment.

This is a proposed program by Kamala Harris to help first time home buyers afford a new home. As such it's speculative right now. This program (if approved) would allow 4 Million first time home buyers to apply for $25,000 in down payment assistance.

For this program to go through, Kamala would need to be elected, then this would need to be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So if I were a first time home buyer I would not bank on this program going through as there are still many hurdles to clear before it can happen.

If you are a first time home buyer I would do your best to save money and build up your own down payment. Waiting for this down payment program to go through would be unwise in my opinion.

On the median house in the USA a $25,000 down payment would be about 6% of the price of the home. That means you'll still need to save up 14% as a down payment to have a total down payment of 20%. Typically a down payment of 20% is needed to avoid Principal Mortgage Insurance. That means you'll still need to save up over $57,000 to contribute to the down payment.

I would not be surprised if real estate investors simply increased the price of any home they are looking to sell by $25,000 if this program actually became law. The market will eventually find its equilibrium. So by flooding the housing market with $25,000 in down payment assistance, you'll likely just see an increase in home prices by $25,000.

[brockreynolds]

My uncle bought a home for peanuts in 1947 with a VA loan. Nobody resented him for it for a minute. That's why they were called the greatest generation.

[liap]

Are you kidding me?!?! I scraped & saved for a down payment. Why should anyone have $25K handed to them on a SILVER platter?!?! And, that's MY hard earned money she wants to give them!

[carlzobel]

Kamala Harris’ $25, 000 Homebuyer Program:
The implementation of Harris’ down payment assistance program raises several logistical questions that remain unanswered. For instance:

Eligibility: Who specifically qualifies for this financial aid? Will the program be tied to income levels or geographic regions?
Disbursement: How will the assistance funds be distributed? Will it be a direct tax credit, or will it work differently?
Impact on Immigrants: Could potential citizenship requirements exclude undocumented individuals from accessing these funds, given existing barriers to home financing?

[matthewmclean]

Free money let's just print a few billion