Taking the American Dream on the road

Tours help to spotlight new housing communities eligible for the bank’s down payment assistance program

Nestled in southeast Colorado Springs, Colorado, the newbuild community Peralta Point features single-family homes boasting high ceilings, walk-in closets and mountain views.

The listed purchase price for the development’s two-bedroom, three-bathroom model is around $375,000. With the American Dream Home Loan - a down payment assistance program offered by U.S. Bank, a potential qualified buyer could end up paying as little as a $1,250 down payment if they use the assistance funds toward the down payment. 

“When most people think of homebuying assistance programs, they don’t necessarily think it applies to new construction homes like this,” Jon Hartman, U.S. Bank mortgage sales manager, told a bus filled with Colorado Springs real estate agents, mortgage loan originators and title company representatives as it pulled into the driveway of one of the new homes in late October. “These are some really nice houses.”

The bus tour, one of several that U.S. Bank has organized across the country in recent months, is intended to show local real estate professionals the range of new build homes that are eligible for the American Dream loan. The program helps qualified buyers with down payments as low as 3%, up to a combined $10,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance and monthly payment savings via mortgage insurance paid by U.S. Bank.

The tours “give realtors a chance to see new build homes that they may not have been able to get in to see yet, while learning about this down payment assistance program that many of them had no idea existed,” said Theresa Eversole, a U.S. Bank mortgage loan originator also on the tour.

The U.S. Bank American Dream mortgage is available to qualified buyers in 28 states. To qualify for the program, the buyer’s income needs to be equal to or below the median income in the area of their desired home or the property must be in a low-to-moderate income census tract – in that case, there are no income limits.

Additionally, buyers must contribute at least $1,000 to the home purchase, complete a course on homebuying and have a FICO Score of at least 640 – although the American Dream loan can build a score using alternative credit data like monthly rent and employment information.

At a tour of a new-build community in Denver earlier this summer, none of the realtors attending knew about the American Dream loan, Hartman said. Not long after, the bank received some 20 applications for the loan.

“If you qualify for this product, it’s amazing,” Hartman said.

Read this story to learn more about how the American Dream mortgage helped a father in Kansas City achieve the dream of homeownership.

Editor’s Note: The content of this article is accurate as of publication on Jan. 6, 2025 and may have changed. For the latest product information, refer to the U.S. Bank American Dream Mortgage product page.