I briefly mentioned  the HOP (Homeownership  Opportunity Program) in a previous article Rehab Financing-Doing the Two step.   HOP is a  Fixer Upper program for  home buyers not investors.  HOP is a two step rehab program loan for bank owned and bank short sale houses.    HOP is one of the few new programs that is NOT exclusively for first time home buyers.  However, only houses that will be owner occupied will qualify.  It  can be combined with special first time home buyer financing and down payment assistance.  Amongst the myriad ways to finance a fixer upper HOP definitely sets it’s self apart because it is designed to take on houses that are “not mortgageable.”    Most of the fix up loans available cannot be used if a house needs certain critical repairs.   The “Not Mortgageable” clauses in most fix up programs eliminate a lot of bank owned property.  HOP helps fills this gap.  It can be used as a first step loan for both FHA and conventional financing.

For more information on this program you can go directly to HOP  expert Alec Grebis.  Alec has posted a couple of articles about HOP on his blog the Mortgage Scoop.