USDA Mortgage Loans
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
The USDA (US Department of Agriculture) funds some mortgage loans, and guarantees others. Apply for these loans at your local lender’s office, or go through a mortgage broker, or go directly to a Department of Agriculture Service Center (see link below for locations of these centers.) Your real estate agent will know about these loans. The USDA provides funds for low to moderate income borrowers to purchase rural housing.
Rural is rather loosely defined. The home should be located in an area with a population of less than 20,000. I do not know, and neither does anyone I’ve spoken to about this, what the defined boundaries of an area actually are.
However, it is certain that the USDA home loan program does not provide funds for purchasing a home in large cities. But if you are looking to buy your first home home in a rural or semi-rural area this type of mortgage loan is definitely worth investigating.
The US government has traditionally recognized that it is beneficial to the country as a whole for it to encourage rural development. For instance, the rural electrification program was a huge part of the New Deal. The Homestead program directly assisted mostly rural citizens, and CCC projects abounded “out in the country.”
There is NO down payment required, the interest rate is usually well below “market,” and they are 30 year, fixed rate loans. These rates and terms are set at the lender’s discretion, however. Make sure that you are getting a good deal before you sign anything. This type of mortgage loan is widely available, but as I previously mentioned – big city banks usually do not offer them.
USDA Rural Development website =>http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/index.html





