It is still a great time to buy a home for the first time home buyer but a lot of people aren't aware of the government funding money out there available for not only first time buyers but for buyers  that are buying bank owned homes.
It is called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program or NSP. It is an effort to take certain areas that have many bank owned forclosed homes and put owner occupied buyers into them.
There are certain requirements of course for buyers and the area maps of the homes for sale are on the website that I will give you at the end of this article.
This program has been around since 2008 but has not got much publication about it. I went to my lender and told him about it and he looked into it and now we are working with a buyer out of Klamath Falls that is purchasing a home using the funding.
It is a second, fixed rate mortgage that does't have any interest and does't have to be paid back until you sell the home or refinance the home. The loan amount can be up to $50,000 depending on the area you are in.  The homes have to be in a non USDA area, meaning homes in cities, not rual property.
For more information or help in finding a mortgage lender who is familiar with this program, email me at steve@web2real.com or go to this link http://www.oregon.gov/OHCS/DO_HERA_Neighborhood_Stabilization.shtml