"Upstate colleges and universities have world-class programs that produce highly skilled graduates, who then leave for opportunities elsewhere," Cuomo said in a statement. "This program will incentivize recent graduates to put down roots."
Nearly half of states offer some form of housing assistance to student-loan borrowers, according to an analysis by Credible.com. Ohio offers Grants for Grads, which, like the New York program, offers down-payment assistance or lower-rate mortgages to people who have graduated from college in the past four years. Rhode Island's Ocean State Grad Grant program offers up to $7,000 in down-payment assistance to college graduates who earned a degree in the past three years.
Many of these state programs, however, require college grads to live in certain cities within the state, similar to New York's program. "It can certainly help people who are dealing with high student debt burdens," says David Reiss, research director for the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School. "But programs like this have to deal with a fundamental issue: Do these communities have enough jobs for recent college graduates? Time will tell."
Source: “College Grads Can Get Home Grants – But There’s a Catch,” realtor.com® (May 5, 2017)
Many people consider this option since they don't have money set aside in their savings account. By withdrawing money from your 401k you will have to pay early withdraw fees as well as taxes on the money you take out. On the other hand, it may be worth it if you found the right house.
As a first time homebuyer you can often avoid the penalties, but you will have to pay taxes on the money. However, you can usually take the money out of your 401k without a penalty if you basically take out a loan on the money,( if your employer permits loans.)Get your FREE Quote Now!
Also, unless you are putting at least 20% down on the home purchase, you will more than likely have pmi insurance. Since there isn’t going to be a huge difference in the monthly payment on the insurance itself, it may be in your better interest to consider not borrowing from the 401k unless you have enough to put the entire 20% down to avoid the insurance all together.
If you have an accountant I would suggest you sit down with them and see what this impact would have on each situation in relation to your taxes. It is unique to every individual.