Scraping together the necessary money for down payment and closing costs is often an insurmountable hurdle for the first-time home buyer in New Jersey.  The New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency has a program to help them. It's called "Smart Start", and it is.

For buyers who meet the income guidelines, and properties in "smart growth" areas, a second mortgage of up to 4% of the first mortgage amount is offered.  If the buyers keep the home as their primary residence for seven years, the whole second mortgage is forgiven.  Check it out at: http://snipurl.com/1v8kt.

This is a great time of year to find great value in real estate.  For the first-time home buyers, this is a great value in mortgage financing.