Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

The Leap Ahead Real Estate Program is focused on First Time Home Buyers (FTHB). Our goal is to enable people to become Homeowners; if you are already a Homeowner, we encourage you to help others become a Homeowner by recommending Lead Ahead.

With the uncertainties of life, we understand that current Homeowners may find

themselves in financial hardship which could lead to them losing their home, our hope

is to develop a program that may assists in this situation; however, our focus at this

time is the First Time Home Buyers (FTHB).

Pre-qualification

We are here to work for and with you; one of our main goals is to make sure becoming

a Homeowner does not create and/or cause unnecessary financial hardship to you

and your family. With this in mind, we will work with you to determine the home that

will best meet your budget. During this process, we look at your financial capability

and based on this, we will recommend purchasing a home that will allow you to be a

successful Homeowner.

Identifying Property

We work with Real Estate companies throughout the Continental United States. In

most cases, since we do not know your local Real Estate market as you may, we will

rely on you to identify the geographical location of your interest. Once the

geographical location is identified, we will engage a Real Estate company within the

radius of your location and start the negotiation process. At the time we feel there is a

good match for you, we will make a formal introduction with the two parties (Real

Estate company and Homeowner). To ensure your success, we will be involved with

you during the entire purchasing process.

Project(s)

A Project starts your Homeownership journey and process. When you create a Project, you must provide the Project Name. You may identify the Property of interest by providing the address; however, if you have not identified a property, you can still submit your Project. We will provide education and resources on identifying a property. You can only have one Project active at a time; you may submit additional Projects after the qualifying period of a First Time Home Buyers (FTHB).

All Others

When you Sign-up as a Non-Homeowner, example: Real Estate Agent, a User Profile will be created for you. The User Profile identifies you as the Administrator of the account. As an Administrator, you can manage your Company Profile; example: you can add Contact(s).

Company Profile

You Must create your Company Profile after you successfully, Sign-up. You can not

create Company Contact(s) until your Company Profile is created. A default Company

Profile is created with you as the Main Contact.

Company Contact

You may create your Company Contact after you create the Company Profile. There are no limits on how many Company Contacts you can have.

Partnership

We will partner with professionals with the appropriate experience/expertise. We will

provide guidance and education for our First Time Home Buyers (FTHB) throughout the

process of becoming a Homeowner. We will provide educational resources to Federal,

State and Local governments, Charitable Organizations, to ensure we are successful.

The Plan

We understand the complexity of becoming a Homeowner; therefore, we will help provide

guidance and resource to make sure the FTHB understands the process, especially finding

the right loan. We will provide education on the various costs (closing, loan origination,

interest rate, etc.) related to a Real Estate loan. The Real Estate loan process is

complicated and confusing; we want to make sure the FTHB understands the financing

process. We will provide guidance on how to avoid predatory lenders.

The Homeowner

First and foremost, we have to make sure becoming a Homeowner does not cause any un-

necessary financial hardship to the FTHB.

We will establish the below steps to successfully qualify for the program:

1. First course of action is to identify the Homeowner needs; work with the Homeowner in identifying their needs and to make sure they are ready for Homeownership.

2. We believe Homeownership comes with financial commitment and discipline. With this

in mind, we will encourage all FTHB to complete a Personal Financial Course.

3. We will recommend resources on Financial Discipline Courses.

We may all experience Hardship as life happens. To address this, we have created the Down Payment Assistant Program (DPAP) to assist with this challenge. Please see the

Down Payment Assistant Program for details on how it works.

Down Payment and other cost (closing cost, etc.) are some of the biggest road blockers in becoming a Homeowner. To address this, we will provide educational resources to the

prospective First-Time Home Buyers (FTHB). 

Some States have and provide Down Payment Assistant Program (DPAP) to assist with this challenge. 

Example is the California Homebuyer’s Downpayment Assistance Program which is a Deferred Payment junior loan that provides up to 3% of the purchase price or appraised value of the property, that can be used towards the down payment and/or closing costs. 

The requirement for the DPAP may varies from State to State, below is the general documents that may be requested.

To qualify for the DPAP, the below documents may be requested:

1. Six months of bank statements of the Homeowner applying for the DPAP.

2. One year of retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.) of the Homeowner applying for

the DPAP, if applicable.

3. All secured and unsecured debt statement(s) of the Homeowner applying for the DPAP. This includes Credit Card, Auto Loan, Personal Loan, etc.

We will provide education and resources on the Loan Process to make sure you are

successful in securing a Real Estate loan. There are many programs that are geared

towards FTHB. With new governmental guidelines regarding Real Estate Loans and Down Payment may vary.

Below is general information on some Financial Institutions:

1. Department of Housing (HUD) - offers one of the most popular FTHB programs. There is a maximum loan amount with HUD and Down Payment could range from 1% to 3%.

2. Conventional Banks - offers loans with Down Payment as low as 3% to 5%. Banks

lending requirements may differ from Credit Unions.

3. Credit Unions - offers loans with Down Payment as low as 3% to 5%. Because Credit Unions - are usually local and serve a smaller population, their loan can sometimes be beneficial to local residents.

4. Private Lenders - in general offers loans with low Down Payment, however, the interest rate is usually very high. We strongly Do Not recommend them. Private Lenders should be your last choice for a Real Estate loan.