Popular ‘Zero Down’ Mortgage Program Makes Comeback

Upfront fee folded into the mortgage...now that is real zero.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com One of the nation’s last sources of no money down financing for home loans appears to be making a comeback: Legislation that restores a Department of Agriculture home-buying program is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature. The legislation makes the USDA’s Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program self-sufficient, the National Association of Realtors reports. Borrowers will have to pay a higher “guarantee fee” of 3.5%–essentially upfront mortgage insurance–but the fee can be folded into the mortgage.