Has anyone heard of international grant services? Website not found, are they a reputable company?

Question

This company said for a fee of $388 they can obtain for me a government grant for first time home buyers that would cover the entire cost of the purchase price of the house. Now I know government grants are for real, but the whole purchase price of a house? I don't know! I have heard of down payments and closing costs for grants, but all of it? Maybe, maybe not. Please anyone out there who know anything about government grants and or this particular company, I would very much apreciate a response. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

Government grants are out there. There is no such thing as a grant that results in you getting a free house.

The grants that are out there help you with down payment and/or closing costs. You still need to qualify for a loan. There are not any "participation fees" or "finders fees" for this. The government is giving this money, and the mortgage company giving you the loan will assist you in it. Find a mortgage company that has access to and knows how to do these grants.

Somebody asking for a "fee" to get it for you is a scam artist. Report them to the state attorney's office. Even if they don't get your money, you can bet they're getting rich ripping people off.

Answer 2

That is a scam and definitely NOT a reputable company.

I would be EXTREMELY WARY of companies that claim you can get grants for whatever purpose you want because that is absolutely false and not how federal grants work. And I would be SCARED all the more that this company wants you to apply for grants through them because there is only ONE site where you can apply for grants legitimately - and that is Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov

If you want to get a government grant, deal only with websites that end with .GOV -- as only government agencies are allowed to use that domain. Any sites that end with .com, .net or .org -- STAY AWAY from

I suggest you check out non profits, who are the recipients of most housing grants. Check out Habitat for Humanity.

Also visit the Nehemiah Corp as they have a downpayment assistance program for qualified lenders http://www.getdownpayment.com/

The Housing and Urban Development in their Grants Available page makes it clear that they do not provide grants to individuals -- hence no grants for a person to buy a home http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm

"While HUD does not offer direct grants or loans to individuals, we do work through local governments and non-profit organizations to make financial assistance and counseling available."

You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two FREE sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes.

Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants -- all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.