Calling all first time home buyers that have good credit and income but have not been able to save the minimum 5% down requirement to purchase a property. The BC Government has effectively relaunched a program that was running a number of years ago. The new program targets first time home buyers and tries to get them over the hump of the high housing prices and into there first home.

With the recently launched program, a prospective first time buyer with as little as 2.5% down payment can take advantage of the BC Home Partnership Program. Under the new legislation the government will match the the downpayment with a loan of up to  total down-payment of $40,000. With the right qualifications this would provide you with a down-payment for a property up to $800,000.

Some of the keys to the Government loan are as follows: The first five years of the loan are interest free. Between the 6-10 year time, the interest rate is preset to prime plus 0.5%. So today, taking out a loan, the interest rate would be preset to 3.2%. This would also be based on a 20 year amortization. In years 11-15, the rate would be reset based on the Prime Lending Rate plus 0.5% at that time.

There are still some kinks with the program, but overall, it is a good program. The program will help first time home buyers that are struggling with their down payment to get in to a property.