Yes, but the loans seem to be generous IMO. Many of my neighbors are qualifying for govt loans around 190 K with around 1.75% to 2% interest in 25K increments, as needed.  As my neighbors tell it, if you need to borrow 50K or 150K your note doesn't change, just length of the loan. So if your payment due is $200 it will be that no matter how much you borrow, just could be a 10 year note or a 20 year note if you take out more.  If you got a grant, that is subtracted from the loan. So if you borrow 150K and your grant is 25K then the loan is adjusted to 125K.   The first payment of the loan isn't due right away, I think a neighbor said 6 months from the date of the loan if I'm not mistaken.  They tell you how much of a SBA loan you qualify for and you have a case manager you contact to take out your increments.  Another term of the loan is that those getting it have to now carry flood insurance if they didn't have it. From what I have heard from neighbors as well (my neighborhood was heavily flooded) those with flood insurance are not usually getting any grants.  They may get a little for housing if they had to go to a hotel or rent somewhere.  But it seems the most they can hope for is the SBA loan.  I am sort of trying to figure out if the people without insurance are coming out ahead of the ones that had as far as assistance goes.  Even though we were very fortunate to not have flooded I am trying to learn as much as I can from me neighbors that did because as we have all  learned, it could happen to any of us.  Not just people here either, anyone in Houston or along the gulf coast, or in this region. We are all vulnerable just depending on the circumstances My friends and neighbors were blindsided in a lot of cases and when it happened they did not know the steps to take or what to do to start rebuilding their homes and lives. So I think it is important for all of us to pay attention to what the lessons of the flood are.That being said, the majority of the people around me seem pleased with the assistance they have received once the ball gets rolling.  I have been actually surprised at the assistance the gov't is providing because I am in an area of pretty high incomes overall. I'm not expert or anything close, this is just information from perspective of my neighbors that have shared with us and each other as everyone is trying to learn and help each other with the process. It also could be that other neighborhoods have not had the same experiences as my neighbors have had.Â
@teatime: have any of your neighbors discussed a fear that by the end of the repairs using new loans,possibly in addition to an already existing mortgage, that they will have more into the house than what they could sell for?
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