City offers thousands to lure mixed-income buyers; State offers down payment help

Oakwood Shores

A slow housing market means sellers everywhere are trying to lure buyers into purchasing a home.

The Chicago Housing Authority is no different.

If you purchase a home in one of the Plan for Transformation’s new mixed-income communities, you could save up to $118,000, according to a press release from Find Your Place in Chicago, a marketing campaign from the city of Chicago and The Partnership for New Communities.

That huge sum comes from three different ways to save:

- discounts from the developer between $20,000 and $100,000
- cash gifts of $10,000 for owner-occupied units
- federal income tax credit of $8,000 for first time home buyers

These deals are for Parkside of Old Town, Oakwood Shores, Lake Park Crescent, and Park Boulevard.

The deals are only good for the next two weeks. More information at Find Your Place in Chicago. Deals like this have been offered all year long, trying to get homebuyers to purchase units in the agency’s Plan for Transformation mixed-income sites, which have been stalled because of the lagging economy and housing crisis.

In addition, Governor Pat Quinn launched a new program giving first time homebuyers and veterans access to low-interest loans for down payment assistance.

The program, which began Friday, gives home buyers that qualify for the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s 30-year fixed-rate mortgage a second loan for three percent of the purchase price, up to $6,000.

In short, it’s a good time to buy.