On March 9th the Utah State Government approved a temporary program called the "Home Run Grant." The program dedicates $10 million to new home purchases, meeting certain requirements, in $6,000 chunks. That means that the first 1,667 people to qualify will be able to take advantage of this unique program. The Home Run Grant is funded by the Housing Relief Restricted Special Revenue Fund, established by Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, the Utah State Legislature, and Utah Housing Corporation. Although there are rules to who may qualify, the program is quite unrestrictive. Here are the basics:

  • The purchase must be for a newly-built, never-occupied, single-family home. This includes twin homes, town homes, condominiums, planned unit developments (PUD), and manufactured homes.
  • Income restrictions: $75,000 single person; $150,000 married couple.
  • Must be the buyers primary, permanent residence.
  • Closing must take place after March 9th.
  • Cash-buyers or mortgage financing is eligible.
  • An approved lender must be used. A list of lenders is available here.
  • You do NOT need to be a first time buyer.
  • The grant may be used in addition to the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit. That is an independent program, with independent criteria.
  • The grant may be taxable. The IRS has not yet ruled on whether it will or will not be taxable. Consult with your tax advisor.

As of this posting there are 799 grants remaining. This means 52% of the available grants have been used in less than 30 days from the announcement of this program. If you want to take advantage of it you need to act fast. The goverment posts the number of remaining grants here.

The best part about this program is that this grant is CASH. Once your application is approved and you've closed on your home normally, though a title company, the application is sent by your lender (from the approved list) to the government who then wires the money to the title company on your behalf. You can use is to cover closing costs, as a downpayment, etc. It's cash. Act fast!