It’s actually Nehemiah Program 🙂 (though the Biblical name it’s taken from is usually spelled differently). http://www.nehemiahcorp.org/
The FHA has been trying to get the loophole this program operates through closed legislatively, and has shut down many other gift programs over the past two years, however, at least as of a few weeks ago this particular one was still open – an agent for a community I went to look at offered me the program as part of her closing tools (I didn’t bite – I’m still waiting for significantly larger price drops, and can afford a decent down payment anyway). There is no income limitation on this program – basically if you qualify for an FHA, you qualify for the program.
The 1.5 extra origination fee (the up-front MIP) is a pretty significant extra closing cost for FHA loans though. Again, since the FHA allows up to 6% seller contribution (3% of which would have gone to the gift program) you can still work this out. Of course, 6% is 6%, and with a traditional mortgage, you could just get them to reduce the house price by that % instead. You do wind up paying more using a FHA loan, just not more out of pocket.
