The State Of Tennessee Wants To Give You $15,000 For A Down Payment On A Nashville Home

NASHVILLE, TN — First-time homebuyers will be eligible for $15,000 in down payment assistance from the state of Tennessee provided they meet some not-so-stringent income requirements and slightly more stringent ZIP code requirements.

People looking to buy homes in seven Davidson County ZIP codes will be eligible for the incentives under a program announced by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency Wednesday. The program, which will utilize a $60 million federal grant, is aimed at improving home ownership rates in neighborhoods that have been slow to pull out of the tailspin of the recession.

As THDA executive director Ralph Perry said at a Wednesday press conference, most people assume down-payment assistance programs are only available to people in low-income brackets, but, in fact, one- and two-person households earning up to $82,000 and larger households earning up to $96,000 are eligible. Under the program, homebuyers receive the $15,000 to use towards down payment and closing costs in the form of a 10-year second mortgage. However, there are no monthly payments on that mortgage and it's interest-free.

After six years, 20 percent of the principal is retired annually, essentially forgiving the entire mortgage if the homeowner stays in the home for a decade.

The idea is that the program creates permanence in stricken neighborhoods, stabilizing them long-term.

The Davidson County ZIP codes are:

• 37218: Bordeaux, Whites Creek, Scottsboro, Bells Bend
• 37207: Whites Creek Pike, Brick Church Pike, Talbot's Corner
• 37208: North Nashville
• 37115: Madison
• 37217: Murfreesboro Pike, Una, Glencliff
• 37086: The Davidson County sliver of La Vergne

For more local coverage and breaking alerts about news that affects you, click here to subscribe to the East Nashville Patch, or find your local Middle Tennessee Patch here.

Image via Shutterstock