How to get free money to buy your dream home in Memphis | News

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Buying a home might be the American dream, but that dream is getting more and more difficult to achieve.

Home prices have outpaced pay increases for years. Here in Memphis, investors have snatched up thousands of the most affordable homes and flipped them into rental properties. However, there is hope for would-be homebuyers.

Financing a first home

Nashawna Durden never imagined home ownership would be possible.

“I was a teen mom,” she explained. “I had my daughter when I was 16. I come from a background that wasn’t so great.”

However, she proudly stood in front of the home she purchased with her 19-year-old daughter, Omiyah Logan.

“It hits different when you have a support system behind you,” Logan said. “That’s so big with my mother.”

“A lot of us single mothers, sometimes we feel like we can’t do it,” Durden explained. ‘”How am I going to set my kids up for success if I’m doing it by myself?”

Thankfully, she was not alone. The City of Memphis covered the majority of her down payment. Grant money helped pay for almost everything else.

‘Free money!’

“I think is the best kept secret in Memphis,” said Jennifer Hart, finance manager for the city’s Down Payment Assistance Program.

For 25 years, Hart has helped families break barriers to finance their first homes. “Every day I wake up and go to the office knowing that this program is helping someone to achieve the American dream of homeownership,” she explained.

The city covers up to $25,000 toward down payments and closing costs. However, there are income limits, depending on which program you choose. The home you purchase must have a price tag of $300,000 or less. You also must stay in the home for at least five years.

“It is free money,” Hart explained. “I don’t see why people are not knocking the door down! It’s money that you do not have to pay back as long as you stay in the house for the affordability period.”

There are also programs for public servants: firefighters, police officers and Memphis Shelby County Schools employees.

“Most people work the job (and) they can pay the mortgage,” Hart explained. “It’s just hard to save up that big chunk of money.”

Preparing for the program

There are various lenders who specialize in applying for the assistance.

At Guaranteed Rate Mortgage Company, Sara Wong helped make Durden’s purchase possible.

“A lot of people don’t have money saved up due to the economy,” she explained. “Cost of living is also high.”

At Wong’s company, families need a credit score of at least 620 as well as $1,000 saved to apply.

Almost every day of 2024, she helped a new family finance their future: 300 homes in just a year’s time!

“You can see joy in people,” she explained. “This is like a big dream from them.”

Breaking ‘generational curses’

Durden placed her teenage daughter on her deed to help build her credit.

“She doesn’t have the same story that I have, and that’s what makes this so amazing for me,” she explained. “It’s just like a blessing. A true blessing from God.”

“Not everybody can say that their mother helped them buy a house,” Logan explained.

The mother and daughter don’t know what the future may hold, but they remain grateful and excited. Both believe that having property they can pass down for generations will create security and stability for years to come.

“I’m breaking the generational curses,” Durden explained. “I broke it.”