Help is available for first-time homebuyers as mortgage rates top 7%

Help is available for first-time homebuyers as mortgage rates top 7% Joe Mazan KSTP Buying a first home has gotten harder as mortgage rates top 7%, and high prices push many young adults out of the market.Last month, Kate Gabriel said her 22-year-old son Levi started trying to buy his first home. She said he checked his credit, talked with a real estate agent and started looking at homes before realizing the monthly mortgage payment was out of reach.“He’s been, you know, a combination of sad and annoyed,” Gabriel said.Levi is not alone. The median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40, as high home prices and interest rates keep young adults from buying a house.What help is available?“I think in terms of affordability it is harder right now from a monthly payment perspective than what consumers have seen in the last 10 to 20 years,” Twin Cities realtor John Ahnemann with Keller Williams Realty Integrity Lakes said.Ahnemann said Minnesota is ranked as one of the best states in the country for first-time homebuyer programs. He pointed to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, or MHFA, and other down payment grants.“It’s a government program that will allow you the ability to get into homeownership with down payment assistance programs, and you can buy your first home for a thousand dollars,” said Ahnemann regarding MHFA. “Look into different down payment grants that are available.”“These programs are typically able to be stacked on top of each other, and there are consumers that can look to receive up to $100,000 in down payment funds, some of which might be forgivable,” Ahnemann added.Gabriel said Levi’s plan now is to save more and wait for more of a buyer’s market. She said he has taken a second job delivering pizza at Domino’s to help reach that goal.