July 7, 2020
If asked to list life's major milestones, most people would put buying a first home near the top. Homeownership offers safety and stability and a chance to build financial equity. For many residents of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, however, buying a home seems an impossible dream.
Nestled between the Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, Mifflin County (pop. 46,000) is a largely rural, working-class area. Many residents live paycheck to paycheck, making it hard to save for a home.
Kish Bank, based in central Pennsylvania, is working to help by using FHLBank Pittsburgh's First Front Door (FFD) product to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to first-time homebuyers.
"First Front Door gives us a huge step up in serving first-time homebuyers," says Kish Bank VP and Residential Lender Penny Zesiger. "Because it works in combination with our other products, we can use it to qualify a wider range of buyers. The FFD grant is often the difference in a customer’s ability to close a loan."
Since starting with the program in 2016, Kish Bank has provided $169,000 in FFD grants to 37 first-time homebuyers, including a single teacher, a young working couple with two small children, and a 74-year-old woman whose landlord sold the building where she had been living for years.
"Buying a house has been life changing for these people," added Zesiger. "For many of our clients, FFD is their only chance to buy a home, and I don’t want them to miss it." Each year, Zesiger proactively contacts prospective homebuyers before the FFD funding is available so that they will be ready when the funds are. "Kish Bank is about helping customers achieve their goals," she says, “and that includes their dream of being a homeowner."
Nestled between the Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, Mifflin County (pop. 46,000) is a largely rural, working-class area. Many residents live paycheck to paycheck, making it hard to save for a home.
Kish Bank, based in central Pennsylvania, is working to help by using FHLBank Pittsburgh's First Front Door (FFD) product to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to first-time homebuyers.
"First Front Door gives us a huge step up in serving first-time homebuyers," says Kish Bank VP and Residential Lender Penny Zesiger. "Because it works in combination with our other products, we can use it to qualify a wider range of buyers. The FFD grant is often the difference in a customer’s ability to close a loan."
Since starting with the program in 2016, Kish Bank has provided $169,000 in FFD grants to 37 first-time homebuyers, including a single teacher, a young working couple with two small children, and a 74-year-old woman whose landlord sold the building where she had been living for years.
"Buying a house has been life changing for these people," added Zesiger. "For many of our clients, FFD is their only chance to buy a home, and I don’t want them to miss it." Each year, Zesiger proactively contacts prospective homebuyers before the FFD funding is available so that they will be ready when the funds are. "Kish Bank is about helping customers achieve their goals," she says, “and that includes their dream of being a homeowner."