Help for Millennials seeking their first home

With rents in South Florida higher than ever, experts report that more millennials are turning to the real estate market for their first home as the only alternative.

“These young people think it’s futile to pay high prevailing rents,” says Miramar real estate agent Beverly Harrow, who reports seeing a steady increase in demand by young buyers for condos and dwelling houses.

Harrow however notes that buyers will face a challenge securing their first home, as “currently the demand for residential property in the region outweighs the supply, pushing up the prices of the available homes and the down-payment requirement.”

That’s what young Caribbean-American newlyweds, Wayne and Morgan Harrison, experienced in their home search. The couple said they experienced “renter’s shock” when searching for a two-bedroom apartment.

“We sought an apartment in a safe neighborhood, but close enough to shopping, highways, and so on,” said Morgan. “The least expensive was $1,500 monthly, way outside our planned $1,200 budget.”

Encouraged by continued low interest rates, they decided on purchasing a home thanks to “surprisingly easy credit requirements”’ But their efforts fell short when they discovered the high down-payment required. Another Caribbean-American, Felicia Ramsay, 31, says she was recently qualified to purchase a “cute condo in West Kendall, but I couldn’t afford the required $20,000 down payment.”

Harrow said it’s the responsibility of realtors to not only find buyers the home of their dreams at the most favorable price, “but also help them get the best mortgage deal, including affordable down-payments.”

Young buyers can get some relief “through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program,” says Harrow, which is “a federal program that allots funds to the states, and is passed on to counties and cities.” Harrow said she’s surprised more homeowners aren’t aware of this program. Depending on the neighborhood, home-buyers in Broward County can get up to $35,000 in down-payment assistance, and those in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County, can received $23,688 and $21,875 in assistance respectively.

“Most of the young people that contact me about home purchasers are middle-income earners, averaging $45 to $48,000 annually,” says Harrow. “So most would meet income guidelines set by the National Stabilization Program to qualify for assistance.”