The government is urging first-time home-buyers to start planning early or risk being passed over for a loan. Government grants for first-time home-buyers are increasing in popularity because of the ease at which these grants are distributed. Moving forward, however, potential home-buyers will have to plan a little farther ahead than before.

Each state or region has its own laws, but they all can provide some sort of grant option with varying grant award amounts. Whether or not these grants are sufficient to buy a home will depend on your need, state laws, and available grant funding.

Preparation to buy a first home can get complicated so it is crucial to follow instructions and append supporting documentation. Applying for a government grant for housing typically requires a fairly grueling application process.

How to Apply for a Housing Grant

1. Invest in a grant application kit, located below. It is fairly inexpensive considering how much money it can secure for you.
2. Download all grant applications.
3. Read the applications thoroughly and fill them out completely and as accurately as possible.
4. Proved the necessary documentation: identification, rental notices, banking information, etc.
5. Check the application to make sure there are no mistakes. Double check.
6. Submit your application electronically or by mail.
7. In about 4-6 weeks you will receive approval for a housing grant. This money is yours, free-of-charge and never has to be paid back.

Applying for a housing grant is undoubtedly the smartest way to be able to pay for your first home. There is more than enough money to go around for the people who demonstrate genuine need.

President Obama allotted $151 million to an auto-factory in Michigan as part of a stimulus to make electric-battery cars. Obama will also highlight a $2.4 billion stimulus aimed at encouraging the development of such automobiles.

The factory receiving the money is expected to employ over 300 people to produce batteries for companies like General Motors, Ford and Chevrolet. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer criticized the Republican opposition to this stimulus.

“None of this would have been possible without the Recovery Act,” Pfeiffer said. “If [the Republicans] had their way, we would not be breaking ground. These industries would not be created here,” he said.

The Obama administration has strengthened their defence of the stimulus initiative, which was passed shortly after the president’s inauguration. The administration expects the stimulus package to encourage $280 billion from private investors and local government jobs that will lead to job creation. An administration report released last week said about 3 million jobs have been “saved or created” by the legislation, so far.

Republicans says the stimulus is wasteful, hasn’t reduced unemployment, and is merely contributing to the countries ever-growing deficit.

“The American people have had enough of Washington Democrats’ job-killing spree,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner.

If all goes as planned, this stimulus will help raise the US’s capacity for manufacturing advanced-vehicle batteries from 2% of the market to 40% by 2015.

May 2010

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gave two grants totaling $1 million to Lockheed Martin to determine the possibility of harnessing energy found between the hot and cold spots of oceans to generate electricity on a large scale commercial level.

Unlike previous ocean energy grants which have primarily focused on harnessing tidal waves and currents, Lockheed’s research will be based on thermal variances as an energy source of their own, referred to as Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Technology (OETC).

Lockheed Martin’s team of scientists and engineers will use half of the money received to develop OETC software and tools that allow them to quickly find these thermal areas of the ocean and accurately assess them for their potential as renewable-energy sources.

The second grant being given to Lockheed will be strictly for their financial team who will be putting together a financial package of cost estimates based on their research on these hot and cold ocean spots. Lockheed Martin will need to determine the scalability, cost, performance, and ultimate potential for large-scale use and commercialization of OTEC technology, all to be included in the package.

An OTEC system uses the temperature difference between solar-warmed surface water and cold, deep water to run a heat engine, which produces electricity. Because the sun continually warms the planet’s oceans, this technology could serve as an inexpensive, clean, renewable source of energy.

This $1 million is merely the latest in a series of grants being awarded to the company. It was awarded $8.12 million last year by the Department of Defense to develop OTEC system components and an OTEC pilot plant.

Clean energy initiatives continue to take preference for funding through the federal government as the need for environmentally sound practices becomes more imminent. President Barack Obama recently approved the DOE budget for the 2011 fiscal year in which they will receive 28.4 billion, including $2.36 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).