Countywide : Loans for First-Time Home Buyers Offered

State Treasurer Kathleen Brown announced this week that about 240 residents in Orange and Los Angeles counties will be able to apply for $30 million in low-interest loans for their first homes as a result of an upcoming bond sale.

Orange County residents qualify if they have never owned a home before, and if the value of the home they are buying is less than $225,900 for an existing home, or $242,190 for a new home, according to a state spokesperson.

To qualify, applicants in households of one or two must make less than $57,800 a year. For households of three or more, the combined income cannot be greater than $65,500, program administrator Mary Kittleson said.

The average income for those who use this program in Orange County is $43,702 a year, based on a sampling of the last 250 loans, said Angel Bade, an administrative staff analyst with Orange County’s public finance division.

The loans typically are between $150,000 and $200,000, with the purchaser responsible for the difference, Bade said.

Since the program began 10 years ago, $415 million has been issued in Orange and Los Angeles counties, according to Charles Taylor, a manager at the Southern California Home Financing Authority, which administers the program.

For more information, Orange County residents can call Bade at (714) 834-5693.