Bank of America offers an amazing homebuyer program which allows you to get up to 100% financing with one primary loan (not a "piggyback" loan), put no money down, pay no Private Mortgage Insurance, along with a below-market interest rate (yes - we couldn't believe it either when we first heard about it!). Here is a flyer describing the program, and here's how it works:

• Borrower's income cannot exceed $105,840/yr for the DC Metro area, $118k in Montgomery County. NOTE: This cap is lifted in certain areas designated by HUD. For example, in Logan circle, this cap does not apply. Contact us for more excepted areas.

• You don't need to be a first-time buyer, but you can't own any other property at the time of closing and you must plan to occupy the residence.

• Fair to good credit is required, but there's no minimum credit score. (You cannot have any "late payments" on your credit report within the last 12 months)

• Maximum loan amount is $417k

So what's the catch? The only requirement, other than the terms above, is that you attend a one-day "Homebuyer Education" class. ACORN is a nationwide non-profit "providing free housing counseling to low and moderate income homebuyers since 1987". You can learn more about them here.

So how good a deal is the ACORN program? Well, here's a clue - when we asked another lender if he could match or beat it, here's what he said:

"Bank of America uses the program through ACORN as part of their CRP portfolio (Community Reinvestment Program). They lose money on the loans but they get a lot of good PR from it. If you qualify and have time for the classes and underwriting it's a great deal."

We think the loans are great for buyers who qualify as well. Contact Shap in the "Trusted Lending Partners" section on this page for more information.