OMG, WTF is HPAP?

Here's something to know: buying a home in DC, at least as a first-timer, involves a lot of acronyms. Thankfully, I went to American University, where "acronym" is the national language. (MA 2010, SIS, IPCR, thankyouverymuch. And my grad assistantship involved coordinating CSLP for the CSC, now the CCES.) Over the course of a week I went to two "What to Expect When You're Expecting...to buy your first home" workshops, and they threw so many letters in our direction that I had to stop trying to write down the longhand name and instead just made a "things to Google later" list.

One of these programs is HPAP.

To be fair, I actually heard about HPAP before I went to any such seminar. A colleague of mine used it when she bought her home, and learning about it was actually the impetus to my deciding to follow through with the buying-a-house daydream. Prior to hearing about this program (and the many others that exist to make homeownership not quite as daunting as it sounds) I'd assumed I would need to cough up a down payment on my own - which I'd always assumed needed to be 20% of the purchase price, seeing as I'd only ever sought real estate advice from people who bought homes in the 1970s.

I'm not sure when or how I learned that 3.5% is an acceptable down payment nowadays, but even that seemed unattainable for many more years. The median home value in DC is just under $450,000 - which translates to a minimum down payment of $15,750. Even for a co-op or condo listed at $150,000, I'd have to drop more than five Gs just to get in the door. I paid off my credit card debt just a few months ago, but after paying for rent, car-related bills (insurance, maintenance, gas, et cetera), and sustenance, I'm still not left with a ton of money to throw into savings. I expected it would take me a solid 3-5 years to save up a hypothetical down payment.

Then, I mentioned in passing to the aforementioned colleague that I was starting to save money for this purpose, and she got REALLY excited - and told me that, among DC's many home purchase incentive programs, there was one referred to as HPAP: the Home Purchase Assistance Program. Managed by the Greater Washington Urban League (hey, my neighbors!), this program provides up to $40,000 (!!!) in down payment assistance loans at 0% interest for the life of the loan. On top of that, they offer $4,000 to assist with closing costs - which, if you don't know, tend to be fairly hefty on their own.

HPAP is income-contingent, meaning you don't necessarily qualify for the full $40k. The more you earn, the less you receive. The $4k, however, is (I believe) granted to anyone who qualifies for a HPAP loan.

To apply for HPAP, you have to go through one of a number of community-based organizations. I've chosen Housing Counseling Services, Inc. based on the fact that they're located equidistant and convenient to my apartment and my office. Via this organization, I am required to take a class on first-time homebuying (check!) and meet with a counselor to formally submit my application (February 7, insh'allah). The formal submission requires you to dig up everything related to your finances under their guidelines. Because my personal situation is relatively simple (employed full-time, no contract work, never married, no kids, et cetera), it means that I'm required to pull together the following:

• my last four pay stubs
• employment verification form (provided by the counselor, signed by my boss)
• my last three months' statements for any bank accounts
• my last three years' tax returns
• my last three years' W-2s
• a letter explaining gaps in my employment (specifically, why I didn't have a job lined up straight out of grad school)
• my last three months' statements for my retirement accounts
• a copy of my lease and the letter the management company sent me after a year explaining my rent hike
• rental verification form (provided by the counselor, signed by my landlord)
• a photocopy of my driver's license

Those of you who know me know that the need to submit ONE copy of all of these things means I will submit TWO and make two additional copies to keep on hand - one at home and one at the office - in case anything is missing. On top of that, I've scanned all these documents (well, the ones I have in my hands already; I'm still waiting on end-of-January statements to come through) and am keeping them safe on my Dropbox folder until I've got my letter of approval.

So, that's HPAP. At another time I'll get into detail re: NACA and FHA, the other acronymed programs I'm likely to explore. Like I said - it's a good thing I'm an AU alumna.