THE DREAM AMERICA PROGRAM

No. A VA mortgage has no down payment, but you still have closing costs including a VA fee.

The longer you continue to rent from Dream America, the more you will pay when you buy your Dream home. If you buy your home in the first 6 months, you will pay 6% more than Dream America’s Acquisition Price (the price today including Dream America’s closing costs). Thereafter through expiration in month 12, you will pay 10% more.

That depends on many factors. The best alternative for you may be to continue to rent and wait to buy in the future once you qualify for a mortgage. But if housing prices continue to rise, you will pay more in a year than you will today. Maybe your lease is ending and you need to move now. And you want to move into your Dream home that you select. Not just another rental. Moving to another rental also means that you will have to move twice in the next year – now and when you qualify for a mortgage. Dream America eliminates the cost and hassle of that extra move.

Also, you should know that Dream can probably get a better deal today than you can on the home you select. We buy houses with no financing contingency and close in 2 weeks. This makes us more attractive to sellers and generally allows us to get a better deal. The less we pay today, the less you pay in the future.

Dream America is not a mortgage lender and acceptance into the Program does not guarantee future mortgage-approval. However, as part of the approval process, your application is reviewed to see if there is a path to mortgage-readiness. If there isn’t one, we won’t accept you. However, we understand circumstances change. Things happen. That is why your lease contains a renewal option so that you can rent for a 2nd year if needed.

As described above, your Purchase Price is set when your lease begins. We don’t have a crystal ball and don’t know what the appraisal will be in the future. In order to bridge any gap, you can first use the 10% rent closing credit (see above for details). We will also ask the mortgage lender to contribute towards closing. If that doesn’t close the gap and you need to contribute additional funds due to a low appraisal, Dream America will match your contribution. For example, if the appraisal is $5,000 below your Purchase Price, your rent closing credit is $1,500 and the lender contributes $1,000, you will still have a $2,500 shortfall ($5,000 - $1,500 - $1,000). In this example, Dream America would contribute $1,250 to the shortfall and you would contribute $1,250.

Dream America pays all upfront closing costs which are then included in the Acquisition Price. You will pay all closing costs when you qualify for a mortgage and purchase your Dream home. You can get an estimate of closing costs from a mortgage lender. Please note, your down payment requirement plus closing costs will exceed your upfront earnest money payment to Dream America. It is very important that you save additional funds during the life of your lease.

Dream America strives to be 100% transparent with our clients and partners. If you don’t see your question here, we have live chat weekdays on our website or you can send us an email at dream@dreamamerica.com.