By Jim Jumpe
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Arch MI
In the year ahead, how can you make homebuying less challenging even as home prices are expected to rise?
At Arch MI, our AMGC Community Heroes program — focused on people in professions like teaching, public safety and medicine — can get first-time buyers back in the market with modest down payments.
It’s offered through Arch Mortgage Guaranty Company (AMGC), which supports portfolio lenders for non-GSE loans and mortgages intended for private securitization.
Community Heroes is an MI solution with the flexibility and risk protection you need to help current renters become first-time homeowners:
- 1% down payment (gifts and grants allowed).
- 720 credit score required.
- True Day One rescission relief.
- AMGC is top-rated by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
AMGC Community Heroes is for eligible employees of educational institutions (public and private), fire departments, law enforcement agencies, medical care providers and current and former military.
There’s also an AMGC Community Experts program with 0% down payments for eligible degreed professionals like CPAs, Ph.D.s, architects, certified mortgage bankers and designated actuaries.
Homeowners Enrich and Stabilize Towns and Cities
Part of the impetus behind AMGC Community Heroes and AMGC Community Experts is to reward qualified borrowers for choosing a career focused on public service. But AMGC Community Heroes is also about recognizing the critical role of first-time homebuyers in flourishing communities and helping lenders qualify more of them for homeownership.
Unfortunately, many public employees find it difficult to buy homes in or near the places where they work. With home prices continuing to increase, coming up with a sizeable down payment may not be possible for people with moderate incomes who are also coping with student debt or trying to raise families. They may have good credit, a steady job and the ability to make a monthly mortgage payment, but their lack of substantial savings means they either have to rent indefinitely or relocate to more affordable homes in distant suburbs.
As a result, towns and cities with too many renters face long-term instability. The insecurity of renting often leads to a lower commitment to the community and higher personnel turnover in essential occupations.
Homebuying helps encourage a steady inflow of residents who help strengthen and stabilize neighborhoods, contribute to the property taxes that support municipal needs and participate in civic life through volunteering and engagement with the community.
At Arch MI, we look forward to working with you to support public employees with MI solutions that make it easier to buy homes near their workplaces. Learn more about AMGC Community Heroes by visiting archmi.com/community.