Who is eligible?

• A person/family who is not a current homeowner in the 6 eligible counties
• A renter who wishes to own a home and has not owned a home in the past 6 months
• A person displaced by Hurricane Katrina who wishes to buy a home in the 6 eligible counties
• A new resident to the 6 eligible counties
• An individual whose income is not more than 120% of median income as defined by HUD (see Chart)

What about participant support?
As part of the My Home My Coast program, participants will go through a class on home ownership, and counseling both before and after the purchase of their home. The My Home My Coast program is designed in a manner to help people own homes long term and provide counseling to help mitigate the possibilities of foreclosure.  This counseling is also designed to help participants with credit repair and is individually catered to each person to achieve the highest possible results.

How much money can you get?
The program is determined by each participants needs but offers up to a 40/60 value loan program. Local approved lending institutions fund as little as 40% of the loan while  the remaining (up to) 60% is provided through block grants as a 0% loan. Closing costs and downpayment assistance is also provided. Down payment assistance is determined based on participant’s income to the Average Median Income (AMI) – See Chart.

Are there any other requirements?
The My Home My Coast program does require that you use specified lending institutions and closing agents when you buy your home. This list of “acceptable” suppliers is used to create a more seamless transaction as these suppliers are familiar with the unique way the program is handled.

Where do I go from here?
If you have already received My Home My Coast approval, contact us to help you find your new home. If you still need to apply, you can view the My Home My Coast website at MSGCRC.com. At the time of this writing, the My Home My Coast program is not taking additional applicants. I am in contact with the MSGCRC staff to get updated when this occurs. You can also call 1-888-49-Coast (888.492.6278).

The major difference in us is that we shop the unlisted property market when we work for you to find a home for sale that fits your family’s lifestyle in Gulfport and all along the coast. Many times we are able to find properties that are vacant or listed as FSBO that are priced below what comparable properties are asking.

Living Room

For example….We have been working with an Air Force Lieutenant who has high expectations for her first home. After combing through the general market and not finding much that met her ideals we began to shop the unlisted market for her family. After a few days of searching we came across a fantastic home in a great neighborhood of Gulfport with great access to the interstate. This Gulfport MS home for sale is priced

Florida Room

For dedicated personalized service that will open all possible options up to you and your family make sure you click contact us today!

People looking for homes and lots for sale want to see listings and research market information prior to dealing with a stranger. We understand, so we have designed this site to help buyers find streamlined information and view properties all across south MS in all the coastal counties. This includes every listing currently on the market in beautiful coastal cities like Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian & Bay St. Louis.

This site is the #1 information source on market conditions, helpful buying strategies, city information, new construction, and investment opportunities. If you want to see listings of homes or lots for sale you have found the best place for it! You can see more than listings for sale by contacting us. We research to find unlisted or FSBO homes as well! View homes for sale in Diamondhead, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Ocean Springs that no other agents know about!. You’ll find great pictures and information on the cities themselves in our categories section.

Check out the buyer’s homepage to get great information on homes for sale and techniques to searching & negotiating for the property that fits your lifestyle. Learn how to protect yourself and save time by working smarter instead of harder. This is the all access site for all your searching and strategizing needs. See all listing for sale in south MS and contact us for information on unlisted homes for sale from Ocean Springs to Bay St. Louis and north to Wiggins. Join the just listed program to be notified of new listings in real time as they hit the market! As they say, timing is everything!

Here you’ll find full access to homes for sale enabling you to have the best opportunity to get the perfect home for you and your family. See all listings for sale, pick your favorites, get behind the scenes market data for negotiating strength through our research, and get the best house at the best price and terms. We are here to serve you.

Contact us for help locating hard to find unlisted homes and properties for sale or to set up a showing on the home of your choice!

The benefits of having a buyer’s agent are:

1. Market knowledge – A Buyer’s Agent will understand the market conditions and have INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE to the general public on all the properties available in the market on an individual basis. A buyer’s agent can locate information on unlisted & pocket listed homes currently for sale, expired & withdrawn homes, rental homes, listing time-frames, neighboring sold prices and dates, average sq ft values, and much more. Market conditions can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and street to street. A good buyer’s agent will use information based upon the precise market conditions and an individual listing’s circumstances to identify negotiating strengths on the buyer’s behalf. Then help the buyer use those strengths to negotiate the best price and terms possible.
2. Representation – Sellers have listing agents who represent their interests. Listing agents are contractually bound to represent their seller’s interests and not the buyer’s. Dealing directly with the seller or their agent exposes your position and reduces your negotiating strength. Having an intermediary act on your interests and behalf is important when you are dealing with a transaction of extraordinary magnitude.
3. The commission – The commission structure of the majority of listings is set to be split by 2 agents. One for the buyer and one for the seller, each with their own representative agents. Typically, real estate sales commissions are split evenly between the seller’s and buyer’s agents. If you don’t have representation, the seller’s agent pockets the entire commission and you have no representation! In seven years of selling real estate I have never seen a buyer pay extra for having their own representation unless it was a commercial deal. Why not have representation when it will likely cost you nothing, make things easier, and help you expand your options?
4. Referrals – A good buyer’s agent has the contacts you need to ensure a smooth and informed transaction. Once you find your buyer’s agent they will be able to guide you to good lenders, inspectors, appraisers and closing attorneys. This will help you avoid complications and misinformation.
5. Experience – A qualified buyer’s agent has experience in all aspects of a real estate transaction. They will know how to handle and guide you through unexpected issues. IE: multiple offer situations, repair allowances, closing cost reductions, home inspection revealed defects, wood destroying insect reports, title issues, contract extensions, negotiations, etc.

The Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) designation is a real estate designation that shows buyers that certain real estate agents/brokers have taken the extra time to complete coursework and have the necessary experience working with buyers to most adequately represent their interests. Damion has achieved this designation and is fluent at working through buyer-specific needs in the real estate transaction.

As long as your buyer’s agent has a solid reputation, is a full-time agent, and you are comfortable with them try their lender referrals if you have not already secured a lender. If for any reason you feel uncomfortable with the referred lenders, let your agent know and begin shopping for yourself. Using the referred lenders are a benefit to you because a strong buyer’s agent has developed relationships with lenders that have a proven track record and will be able to more closely work to get the deal closed for you.

Tips for choosing a lender:

1. Meet with them face to face. Don’t be just another voice on the phone. A face to face meeting develops rapport and will help you to receive more personalized service. 9 times out of 10 out-of-state lenders you found on the internet and have never met will give you more headaches than you expected or even worse.
2. Shop mortgage brokers or originators – not banks. Mortgage brokers/originators usually can offer you a wider range of options for financing. Most banks have specific guidelines on lending and cannot offer you the flexibility that mortgage brokers can. We have a mortgage originator that has always met or beat any quoted financing from any bank. We use this mortgage originator constantly and he is consistently on top of the financial market conditions and all of our clients’ specific loans. He does it for less than the bank and we have found him twice as reliable.
3. Ask for a “Good Faith Estimate” (GFE). A “GFE” will break down your estimated closing costs and is required by law to be provided to you by your lender. You can use a “GFE” to compare local lenders and make a decision on which “professional” provides the best service for less. NOTE: Have your buyers agent review each “GFE” to make sure that nothing was left off. If you choose a seemingly cheaper lender who actually just left something off you will usually find that their service is as inept as their “GFE”. For all practical purposes – you just want to make sure you are comparing apples to apples

Other important items to note:

1. If you don’t expect to live in your new home for a long time, IE: military transfer, it is likely to be in your best interests to consult an Investment Realtor. A good Investment Realtor as a buyer’s agent will help you to choose your purchase while developing an ‘exit strategy” which can have a huge impact on your quality of life once it comes time to sell. We have worked with investors for years to ’strategize’ their best return on investment in residential real estate.
2. Home inspectors are worthwhile. They cost between $250 & $400 but they can save you thousands, even tens of thousands. It is especially critical for first time buyers to hire an inspector and be present for the inspection. This way the buyer will become familiar with the maintenance items and issues with their new house. Think of the inspection as a “class” on your new home. Not every inspector is the same. Make sure they are licensed and reputable. Any full-time agent will have a qualified home inspector they can recommend.
3. Be prepared to act. Before you begin looking at properties for sale you need to be pre-qualified with a lender. You want to make sure you shop the correct price range! No matter how slow or active the market is you can bet that when a good listing comes up for sale other people will want it as well. If you ever are in a multiple offer situation on your “dream house” and you do not have a pre-qualification letter but the other buyer does, guess who probably gets the house. Don’t miss out! Be prepared.
4. What makes us ideal buyer’s agents? My partner & I are both full-time agents who specialize in different areas. Both of us are experts in our field and can easily arrange a meeting for you to sit down with one, or both of us. We work together on every transaction giving you the benefit of 2 full-time agents instead of one. We are also two of the top Investment Realtors on the coast. This means you won’t find more information on the market anywhere else! We ask that you don’t hesitate to call or email us anytime. As your agents, we understand that nothing is more important to you than getting answers quickly and precisely. We are here to serve you!

Click Contact Us and we’ll get started working with you!

The tax credit was enacted to help get rid of existing inventory in the housing market and is a change to the existing $7500 tax credit. The previous tax credit was in the form of a forgivable loan – the new $8,000 credit does not have to be paid back.

In order to qualify for the credit, you simply have to buy a “first” home in 2008, make less than $75,000 (or $150,000 married filing jointly), and talk to your tax preparer. If you have special circumstance which apply to you or are subject to withholding, you may want to talk with your accountant on how this tax credit can benefit you.

In order to fully qualify and avoid recapturing the tax credit, you must move into the property (and own it) prior to December 1, 2009 and must maintain it as your primary residence for at least 3 years. Special circumstances are allowed for the 3 year occupancy but it is best to plan for 3 years of occupancy.

Table Below provided from information by the National Association of Realtors®