Program helps low-income homebuyers with downpayment

ATLANTA — A new program is bringing life to struggling neighborhoods.

Channel 2's Linda Stouffer spoke with new home buyers Thursday who are also benefiting.

A renovated kitchen was just one thing that caught 24-year old Rashawn Simmons's attention as he searched for his first home in the Pittsburgh community.

“I love to cook and as you can see, there's plenty of room for me to cook,” Simmons told Stouffer as they walked around the home. “I want to put an offer on this place. I really do. The only thing is it was a little higher than others. I saw the sign outside that said $30,000 down-payment assistance.”

That down-payment money will make his mortgage payment a better deal than rent.

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The Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership is distributing $2 million to help more families find homes with grants of $20,000 or $30,000 each.

It's making an impact on Welch Street, where the organization is partnering with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to do renovations.

The organization is going house by house.

“We're now concentrating on this block of Welch Street and doing six homes and we'll be doing three more,” said Antallie Keiser with the Annie E. Casey Foundation

“We just have so much to look forward to in this community. So if you move here, it’s a come up, that's the way I see it,” homeowner Chandra McGee told Stouffer.

“It's still unbelievable. Some days, I'm just there getting things unpacked and I'm like, ‘Wow! This is actually my house,'” Simmons said.

Buyers can look for the assistance in four counties: Fulton, Clayton, DeKalb and Douglas.

Eligibility is based on income levels.

Cox Media Group