Aurora will soon be offering those looking to buy a home within city limits up to $26,000 in grants and loans towards the purchase.
The Choose Aurora Homebuyer Assistance Program looks to help make the homebuying process more affordable and to attract new residents to the city, city officials announced in a news release on Monday evening. The Aurora City Council approved the creation of the program last September.
“Choose Aurora is a great way to make the homebuying process more affordable for both current residents and those who look to move into the city,” Chris Ragona, Aurora director of community services, said in the city’s news release. “We are excited to launch the program and to help more individuals make Aurora their home.”
To qualify, those looking to buy a home would need to meet certain income requirements, be looking to purchase a house affordable for their level of income and be willing to go through a homebuyer education course, which the city would pay for.
Specifically, a household would need to make no more than 120% of the area’s median income, which city officials previously said was about $144,000 per year for a family of four, to qualify for the program.
But, the program will set aside some of its allocated funds specifically for those making at most 80% of the area’s median income, or roughly $96,000 per year for a family of four, to make sure money is always available for likely first-time homebuyers, officials have said.
The purchase of existing and newly-constructed houses, townhouses and condos within city limits are all eligible for the program, the city’s recent news release said.
Before they can apply, homebuyers must pre-qualify for a 30-year fixed FHA or Conventional Mortgage Loan and have their purchase offer accepted, according to the news release. Officials said that the application process will take about four weeks before the anticipated closing date.
Once accepted into the program, homebuyers can get up to $20,000 through a no-interest deferred loan, up to a $5,000 grant to pay for closing costs and up to a $2,000 grant for minor repairs needed to the home, the news release said. That no-interest deferred loan wouldn’t need to be paid back until the house is sold or until it is no longer the person’s primary residence, city officials have previously said.
Those looking for more information about the program can visit its page on the city of Aurora’s website: www.aurora.il.us/ChooseAurora
City officials have said that funding for the new program, which in total was approved by the Aurora City Council at $650,000, will come from a mix of sources.
Some of those funds are set to come from the federal government through the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership funds, while some would also come from the recently-created Aurora Affordable Housing Fund.
Aurora previously had a down payment assistance program, but it offered only up to $5,000 in grants and had much stricter requirements on who qualified. That program had so few applications, city officials have said, that it was nearly shut down.
The announcement of the city’s newly-improved program comes a few months after MRI Software named Aurora the second-best city in America to move to.
That company’s Move-In Magnet Index analyzed job opportunities, cost of living and safety data to find “hidden hotspots where people are finding better balance, booming economies and space to breathe,” according to MRI Software’s news release from November.
Other top cities included Nashua, New Hampshire; Cleveland, Ohio; and Dover, Delaware.
“This year’s index shows a clear shift toward smaller, safer and more affordable cities,” Cederick Johnson of MRI Software said in the company’s news release. “Places like Nashua, Dover and Aurora are thriving because they offer more than economic opportunity they deliver a lifestyle balance that major metros can’t match.”
In particular, the press release noted that Aurora had the highest number of jobs among the top cities, alongside one of the lowest costs of living.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
