Alabama Low Income Housing

Low Income Housing Information

Low income housing can be a godsend, but if you don't know how to apply, or who to get your information to, how can you ever expect to be approved?

Since laws and procedure vary from state to state, you'll need to learn a few specifics before applying. We can help!

Tips for Searching for Low Income Housing in Alabama

Before the collapse of the real estate market that began in 2008, there was a distinct lack of affordable housing for low income households. The problem was that virtually all real estate was steadily increasing in price, due to the bubble, and therefore property owners were not interested participating in any of the programs designed to help promote affordable housing. Likewise, the property developers were much more interested in adding ever more value to the property they were developing in order to further increase it market value, which in turn meant building nicer and more expensive homes that were designed to be sold at top value instead of through a government program.

This general trend was evident across the United States throughout much of the 2000s but began to change in 2008. The bursting of the real estate bubble not only led to the collapse of real estate values, but also resulted in an enormous number of defaults and foreclosures. This is a trend that continues today and means that the market is now saturated with available housing. Today, many property owners are much more interested in participating in federal and state affordable housing programs as a means of limiting the damage done by the collapse of the market. Although Alabama has avoided much of the crisis - being ranked thirty-six out of all fifty states by foreclosure rate in January 2010 - the same general market dynamics are in play there.

Although the federal government administrates a number of housing programs that apply throughout the country, each state usually also has its own programs for low income housing or its own unique laws and modifications to the federal programs. Therefore, people looking for subsidized affordable housing should probably begin looking at the resources provided by their state government, which usually include an overview of the federal programs available as well. People looking for a program in Alabama should begin by exploring the options presented by the Alabama Housing Finance Authority (AHFA, www.ahfa.com). This resource provides most of the information that low income individuals or households need to either rent or buy a home and details how to apply for various subsidy programs.

Federal assistance for low income homebuyers and renters can be complicated to understand because various programs are run by different departments. For example, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the Department of Agriculture Rural Development section, and the Veteran's Administration all run separate housing subsidy programs. Alabama, like most states, compliments these federal programs with additional subsidy programs for its residents. For example, the AHFA has the First Step program, based on the sale of state bonds, to help first time low income home buyers make their down payment and helps to lower the interest rate of some mortgages.

People looking for subsidized low income housing in Alabama should certainly begin by visiting the AHFA website, or its main office in Montgomery, and exploring the options available there. The AHFA also offers a number of free guides explaining how the different programs work and what is available.