In an area being hard hit by the downturn of the auto industry, this program began on January 1, 2009 and ends on March 6, 2009. As of December, 2008 Windsor's unemployment rate sat at 9.1%. Details on the program can be found here.
Some of the details:
- Maximum home value of $160,000
- Maximum income of $61,400 annually
- Loan must be paid back if applicant does not own and stay in the home for at least 20 years
- If the home is sold for less than the original price paid the loan is forgiven
I thought this was an interesting program; it is actually called 'The Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program Homeownership Program. I have never heard of such a thing. Like the Hyundai 'Lose Your Job, Return Your Car' program, this is a sign of the times in Southern Ontario.
9 comments:
Wow, that's amazing news. I haven't heard of it either but I'm sure that was by design. Why tell the rest of the country they are giving away $$ in Windsor?
Glad I don't own real estate there!
Mike
You would think they might want to promote it country-wide if their aim is to have people move there... May be more targeted at propping up their local housing market though to help the local economy. I noticed that the city population is still growing slowly as of Dec. 2008.
There are so many restrictions on this I can't imagine there will be many people using it. That's always the problem with these things: either the restrictions are loose and people exploit it, or they're tight and no one can actually use it.
I'm with Cheap - who thought this up? If the average person moves every 7 years - who wants to buy a home and have to sit there for 20? I know for myself (at 27) when I look for a house I'll like buy one undersized for my long-term needs. Once kids come in the picture I'll want a bigger yard, more bedrooms & likely other things (gotta store the boat!). I don't think this will be a very popular program, but that's just my opinion.
I agree. I could not believe the 20 year stipulation. This in effect makes this an interest free loan instead of free money. I think the program might cost the government more tax dollars in admin. costs than it helps homeowners.
This isn't just for Windsor, and it's not just due to the bad economy -- it's an on-going aid program to help people buy homes. It's an Ontario-wide thing, but it's administered differently in each locality, and no, there's been next to no advertisements of it.
Here's the link for the Toronto version, and for London.
For London, the restrictions were severe, and it wasn't very popular... [Note: my blog's redirect is not working right at the moment, everything is going to the front page, so that link might not take you to "Free Money From The Government"]
Interesting Potato....stealth aid programs. The 160K in Windsor though is much more realistic than 120K in London.
Could we arbitrage this by moving the house?
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