Raleigh Area First Time Home Buyers find help in the 2014 Farm Bill

Some of the biggest talking points coming  out of the $956 Billion 2014 Farm Bill is that Food Stamps were cut by $900M per year, it ends a two decades old  Direct Payments to farmers at a savings of $5B per year and even includes funding for Hemp (marijuana) research.

But what most people are unaware of is that in a rare act of bi-partisan behavior, both sides of the aisle agreed that it was in the best interest of the overall economy to retain the pre-2010 USDA Guaranteed Rural Development Housing Maps until 2020.

This means that  home buyers and sellers in the affected 900 communities nationwide which had been deemed no longer rural as of the 2010 census will remain eligible for the USDA zero down payment loan programs at least until the year 2020. This is a long term solution because it not only keeps the current eligibility maps until 2020 but it also extends the definition of rural area to populations of 35,000 or less.

For Raleigh-Cary-Durham Cary, Morrisville, Wendell, Fuquay-Varina, Apex, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Wake Forest and much of Southern Wake County first time  home buyers it means that eligible home buyers and properties can still qualify for the no down payment, fixed rate government insured mortgage loans.

Ricardo Cobos is a licensed mortgage loan officer in Raleigh-Cary-Durham North Carolina who has been helping families to achieve financial security through responsible home-ownership since 1998. (919) 526-0183