Prince George's County launches three homeownership assistance programs

The workforce program is aimed at teachers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, health care professionals and other essential employees, and it will offer up to $50,000 or 25 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less, as a zero-interest deferred loan. At the county median, that means the $50,000 cap would apply, leaving a buyer to finance $398,654 before closing costs, repairs and other expenses. The Homeownership Equity Program is smaller, with up to $30,000 per buyer for income-eligible households, which would still leave $418,654 to cover at the same median price.

Pathway to Purchase remains the county’s flagship first-time buyer tool, offering up to $50,000 in down payment and closing-cost help through approved lenders. It can be used on resale homes, new construction, foreclosures and short sales, but the county’s own price limits are $448,000 for resale homes and $485,000 for new construction, which means a home at the county median is already $654 over the resale cap and the program is still limited to households within the county’s 80 percent area median income chart. MMP says the loan is a separate county program, that buyers work through an MMP-approved lender, and that the deferred loan declines by 10 percent a year before being fully forgiven after 10 years if the buyer stays eligible.