New down payment option could boost homeownership!

New down payment assistance is putting homeownership within reach of more consumers and boosting the buying power of others, sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Federal mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac is piloting a groundbreaking program that lets homebuyers get half of a 20 percent down payment covered by a financial firm in exchange for home equity.

The down payment assistance comes from Unison Home Ownership Investors (formerly First Rex) — a San Francisco-based firm that invests in homes alongside owner-occupant buyers and lets homeowners sell home equity for cash.

How the program works

Participating borrowers can fork over a 10-percent down payment and end up with the same monthly mortgage bill as borrowers who use their own money to cover the full 20 percent for the same loan but don’t use the program.

In exchange for covering half of a down payment, Unison Home Ownership Investors will realize part of the gain or loss of a home’s value — with the payout (or loss) likely usually occurring when the property sells in the future. Borrowers do not pay any interest on a down payment contribution from Unison.

The program marks the first time that a “shared-equity” scheme that involves no interest payments has been approved by a federal mortgage agency, according to Unison and some industry insiders.

That sets mortgages with investor-supported down payments up for widespread use if Freddie Mac expands the experiment.

Mortgages with Unison assistance don’t require private mortgage insurance (PMI) because they use a 20-percent down payment. Freddie Mac holds these loans to the same underwriting standards as mortgages that use a 20-percent down payment covered in full by the borrower (with no assistance from an investor).

Borrowers can buy out Unison Home Ownership Investors’ stake in their property after a few years, or they can let the company hang on to the equity for up to 30 years. At that point, they would have to buy out Unison by refinancing or selling.

Guy Arnone

Guy Arnone is a California Licensed Real Estate Broker who belongs to a select group of individuals approved by the California Real Estate Commissioner to perform a special dual service in the real estate industry.


Guy started the Fred Sands of Valencia with five agents. By the time he sold/merged the office in 2009 to Coldwell Banker, Vintage Sotheby’s International Realty office (formerly Fred Sands) had over 150 agents in his organization. His company included mortgage,escrow, commercial and property management divisions and had grown to  be ranked the #3 office in their marketplace.


Licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate since 1986, Guy has been serving Southern California real estate needs for nearly over 30 years. From representing principals in all facets of real estate brokerage, financing, property management, development, and real estate investing to developing, growing and managing real estate companies.


Guy continues to rank among the top 10% Nationwide of all real estate professionals of transactions of residential, luxury, commercial and multi-residential real estate.


Guy has and continues to serve on many advisory boards including, Women with Vision, Title IX, The Northridge Hospital Foundation, We Are the World Real Estate, Children’s Hunger Fund and The Springbrook Foundation. He enjoys Sports, Art, Travel, History, Reading, Music, and spending time with friends and family. Guy has been married for over 26 years and has three children.