THE DREAM AMERICA PROGRAM

Ready to buy a house, but the banks aren’t ready for you? 

The Dream America Program (the “Program”) offers aspiring homeowners the opportunity to pick any home available for sale in their community within an approved budget and then lease it from Dream America until they qualify for a mortgage.  During the Program, clients will follow a personalized plan to mortgage-readiness.  As soon as you qualify for a mortgage, you can cancel the lease penalty-free and buy your home!  

1. Read the Program guidelines and see if it sounds right for you
2. Apply (see more on minimum qualifications to Apply below)
3. Qualify 
4. Pick a home that meets your needs 
5. Dream will work with your agent to put an offer in on the home
6. If our offer is accepted, we will immediately order an inspection and appraisal.  The inspection will be shared with you
7. Sign Program agreements
8. Closing and Move-in!
9. Buy your home from Dream America when you are ready

+ Commitment to becoming a homeowner -- pay bills on time and repair credit
+ Track record of paying rent on-time (we will verify with your landlord)
+ FICO score of 500+
+ Household pre-tax income of $4,000+/month (applicant+ co-applicant, if any)
+ $10,000+ cash available from savings, 401k or gift (less for Vets. See details below)

Once you are qualified, you will go out with your real estate agent to pick a home in your community that is right for you.  Dream is not involved in selecting your home. The process of selecting a home is virtually identical to the traditional process that you would go through if you had already qualified for a mortgage.  The difference is that once you find your home, Dream America will buy it and lease it back to you for 12 months.  You then work on getting mortgage-ready.  Once approved for a mortgage, you can cancel your lease early with no penalty and buy your home!

Dream America is currently available in major metro areas in FL, GA and TN. Once you qualify, you can go out with your agent and pick any eligible home that fits your needs.

+ Single family home, townhouse or condo eligible for FHA financing
+ List price of $150,000 up to FHA limit (which varies by region)
+ Homes built or renovated in the last 15 years. You are responsible for maintaining the home and the last thing we want you to have is big repair bills!
+ Dream America’s purchase price today must be equal or less than the appraised value.  

Except for new construction, we order an inspection on all homes before we purchase them and share that with you. We then ask the seller to make any necessary repairs. We also insure that all Dream homes come with a home warranty to cover HVAC, plumbing, electric and appliances.

The contract to buy your Dream home requires an upfront payment equal to 5% of your future Purchase Price (more on that below).  This payment is not a fee because it is credited back to you when you purchase your Dream home.  This insures that you have funds available towards your down payment and closing costs when you are ready to buy.  It also insures that you are committed to buying your home because you will lose your 5% payment if you don’t buy the home.  

No. We only require a 3% payment from anyone with a VA certificate of eligibility. Thank you for your service.

The longer you continue to rent from Dream, the more you will pay when you buy your Dream home. If you buy it in 6 months, you will pay 6% more than Dream America’s acquisition cost. If you wait 12 months, you will pay 10% more.

That depends on many factors.  The best alternative for you may be to continue to rent and wait to buy in the future once you qualify for a mortgage.  But if housing prices continue to rise, you will pay more in a year than you will today.  Maybe your lease is ending and you need to move now.  And you want to move into your Dream home that you select.  Not just another rental.  Moving to another rental also means that you will have to move twice in the next year – now and when you qualify for a mortgage.  Dream America eliminates the cost and hassle of that extra move.

Also, you should know that Dream can probably get a better deal today than you can on the home you select.  We buy houses with no financing contingency.  This makes us more attractive to sellers and generally allows us to get a better deal.  The less we pay today, the less you pay in the future.  

You will pay a 1% onboarding fee to Dream America as soon as we are under contract to buy the home you selected.

Payment is immediately due once Dream America has an accepted offer on the home you select. Please do not start the home search process unless you have funds available. If you are obtaining funds from a 401k or gift from a family member, please discuss that with someone on the Dream team during the application review process.

Dream America is not a mortgage lender and acceptance into the Program does not guarantee future mortgage-approval. However, as part of the approval process, your application is reviewed to see if there is a path to mortgage-readiness over the next 12 months.  If there isn’t one, we won’t accept you.  However, we understand circumstances change.  Things happen.   That is why your lease contains a renewal option. 

As described above, your Purchase Price is set when your lease begins.  We don’t have a crystal ball and don’t know what the appraisal will be in the future. In order to bridge any gap, you can first use the 10% rent closing credit (see above for details).  We will also ask the mortgage lender to contribute towards closing.  If that doesn’t close the gap and you need to contribute additional funds, Dream America will match your contribution.  

Dream America is turning renters into owners!

Dream America pays the closing costs up to $3,500 when we purchase the home.  You will pay all closing costs when you qualify for a mortgage and purchase your Dream home.  You can get an estimate of closing costs from a mortgage lender. You should plan on the FHA down payment requirement plus closing costs to exceed your 5% payment.  It is important that you save additional funds during the life of your lease towards closing costs.

All clients must sign the Dream America Pledge which includes steps that you must take to improve your credit score.  Many applicants may also want professional assistance to dispute erroneous items on their credit report.  Dream America can introduce you to specialists that are working with other Dream clients. 

You are responsible for maintaining the home during the life of the lease (and thereafter once you purchase it!). Please remember, we order an inspection before we purchase the home and give it to you. If you aren’t happy with the condition of the home, we won’t purchase it.

As an additional benefit for you, we will insure your home comes with a home warranty, covering appliances, electric, HVAC and plumbing during the life of your lease.

Absolutely! You are free to upgrade the landscaping, paint the walls, install new carpet, etc. in your Dream home. Major construction involving structural changes is not permitted. You need to buy your Dream home first.

Yes, pets are allowed but pet breed and age must be listed in the lease. A non-refundable $250 pet deposit will also apply. Certain pets may be excluded due to insurance restrictions or community standards.

In general, we don’t make exceptions.  The Dream America Program is for aspiring homeowners.  And becoming a homeowner entails many costs and commitments.  If you have saved most, but not all of the required cash, please contact us to discuss.  

Email us at info@dreamamerica.com. Be sure to include your phone number and let us know if you are a potential client or a real estate agent.

Click here to start the application process:www.dreamamerica.com/apply

Yes!  10% of rent paid will be applied as a closing credit towards your purchase of your Dream home if, and only if, all rent payments are made on time.

We make this easy for you by collecting rent automatically from your bank account using Clearnow (www.clearnow.com) on the 1^stof each month.

You are not required to buy your Dream home, but if you don’t use your Purchase Contract before it expires, you will lose the 5% payment.

However, if after renting for 12 months your plans change and you decide not to buy the home you can ask Dream America to sell it.  You must continue to rent on a month to month basis until the house is sold.  We will then split any profit from the sale 50% / 50% with you.  Please note, buying and selling a home involves many transaction costs.  There is no guarantee that there will be any profit to split.  The only thing that is guaranteed is that if you don’t buy the home you will lose your 5% payment.  All of it.

As we stated before, Dream America is for aspiring homeowners. It is not a try before you buy program. If you are not 100% committed to becoming a homeowner, please stop reading this now and look for another alternative.

Dream America wants to see all of its clients purchase their home in the next 12 months.

However, you may renew your lease and purchase contract for another 12 months if needed.  At the time of the renewal, the rent and future Purchase Price will both increase by 5%. Please note, if you pay your rent late two or more times during the initial lease (or Dream files for an eviction even once), the renewal option is voided.

Rent is determined by house price, property tax, HOA fees and insurance costs. To state the obvious, rent is more expensive than your cost of ownership once you obtain a mortgage! That is why we offer a penalty-free early lease termination when you buy your Dream home. Please also note, the rent you pay in Dream Lease to Own does not go towards your purchase.

Use this calculator to estimate your rent:

Great question! We want to see all of our clients become homeowners. But first you need to be able to afford the rent, pay your other bills and build some savings. That is why we limit your rental budget to 1/3 of your household income before taxes. In fact, we encourage our clients to find a home with a smaller monthly payment than the maximum to allow them to save as much as possible during the lease.

You are going to need the onboarding fee, option payment and 1st month’s rent available. When you add this all up, you should plan on having at least $10,000 available from savings, a 401k plan or gift from a family member.