The Sapphire Program is an assistance program that provides grants to help low-to-moderate income individuals cover their down payment and closing costs and is to be used only for purchase transactions. This grant can provide up to 5 percent of the loan amount for loans up to 417,000 dollars or less and can also be used for prepaid items and earnest money.

Home buyers are only expected to provide as little as .5 percent of the down payment, debt ratios can be as high as 43 percent and there is no recapture fee with the Sapphire Program. Because it is a true homebuyer grant, no repayment of the funds is necessary.  This option is offered to both first-time homebuyers and homebuyers that 

A reverse mortgage is a type of mortgage in which homeowners 62 years of age or older can borrow money against the value of his or her home. No repayment of the mortgage is required until the borrower dies or the home is sold. Borrowers can limit their financial responsibilities down to insurance, tax and maintenance using this option.

Unlike a traditional mortgage where borrowers make monthly payments to a lender, the lender instead makes payments to the borrower using the property as collateral. For this loan, the home must be a primary residence and you must have your traditional mortgage paid off. The formula set out by FHA that determines the loan

A VA loan is a mortgage loan in the United States guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs designed to offer long-term financing to eligible American veterans or their surviving spouses. This loan allows veterans 103.3 percent financing without private mortgage insurance or a 20 percent second mortgage and up to $6,000 for energy efficient improvements. A funding fee of 0 to 3.3% of the loan amount is paid to the VA and this fee may also be financed.

To qualify for this loan, a veteran or active duty member must meet the minimum number of days of completed service; Either 90 consecutive days of service during wartime, 181 days of service during peacetime or 6 years of service in the National Guard or the Reserves. To apply for this loan, all applicants must present a Certificate of 

You’ve likely heard the saying, “Learn to walk before you run,” meaning become a master of the simple before diving into the more complex. Becoming a master of finance is much the same way in that we should learn to budget before beginning to invest. The purpose of this series is to help readers like you gain control of your finances prior to taking the next step in investment. Using the KISS principle described in article one of this series, KISS Money Management: Forward Thinking, the following will explain in further detail how to implement the concept of keeping it simple.


Budgeting is simply calculating your income and creating an itemized list of expenses to determine how you will distribute that income. Planning ahead like this can help change your fiscal behavior for the better because it can bring to light the habits that don’t serve you well and help you change them. Budgeting works as a strategy to</a.

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