Buying A House Down Payment Assistance

The NJHMFA Down Payment Assistance Program (DPA) provides up to $15,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers to use as down payment and closing cost assistance when purchasing a home in New Jersey. The DPA is an interest-free, five-year forgivable second loan with no monthly payment.To participate in this program, the DPA must be paired with an NJHMFA first mortgage loan. The first mortgage loan is a competitive 30-year, fixed-rate government-insured loan (FHA/VA/USDA) or conventional mortgage, originated through an NJHMFA participating lender. Certain restrictions such as maximum household income and purchase price limits apply. View the income and purchase price limits here. NJHMFA's participating lenders are the best representatives to help walk you through program qualification details including income and purchase price limits, and help you complete the application process. Click here to find an NJHMFA participating lender..

buying a house down payment assistance

Do You Need Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance? NJHMFA's First-Time Homebuyer Mortgage Program is the foundational mortgage program that can be combined with the NJHMFA Down Payment Assistance Program, to provide qualified buyers with up to $15,000 as an interest-free, five-year forgivable second loan with no monthly payment that can be used to cover down payment and closing costs.

For many people, the cash downpayment required to buy a home is a significant hurdle. We lower this barrier by offering downpayment assistance loans for homebuyers who use our mortgage programs (Home Advantage and House Key). As always, we encourage you to take a homebuyer education class and to connect with one of our trained lenders who knows our programs.

Down payment assistance (DPA) helps homebuyers with grants or low-interest loans, reducing the amount they need to save for a down payment. Provided you qualify, you could receive a forgivable loan or an outright cash gift that never has to be repaid. Some loans must be repaid but with low or no interest. Many DPAs can be used for closing costs, too.

Down payment assistance programs are something of a ZIP code lottery. Depending on where you want to buy, you could be in line for a few thousand dollars or tens of thousands. And your program will dictate whether the money is a grant or a loan that needs to be repaid.

Some homebuyer programs explicitly state that you can use their funds for closing costs as well as your down payment. Others may or may not have rules about that. Check your local down payment assistance programs to see if closing cost grants are included.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) offers up to $20,000 in down payment assistance (DPA) in the form of a second mortgage at 1% interest. However, some borrowers may be entitled to lower DPA rates.

The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) has a first-time home buyer down payment assistance program. However, purchases within the city limits of Topeka, Wichita, Lawrence, and Kansas City, and in Johnson County, are not eligible for help.

An alternative program, called HomeNow, also offers up to $8,000 in down payment assistance. The difference is that this loan can be forgiven after 10 years and is only available to borrowers with an income below 80% of the area median income (AMI).

The Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency offers its OHFA Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance program. This provides down payment assistance loans to eligible borrowers using a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Those secondary loans are 3.5% of the primary mortgage amount.

The South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority offers both mortgage loans and down payment assistance. This is intended to help low-to-moderate income families and individuals who are purchasing a home for the first time.

The South Dakota Housing Development Authority (SDHDA) offers down payment assistance via the Fixed Rate Plus loan. This can provide 3% or 5% of the purchase price to help with your down payment and closing costs.

Via My First Texas Home or My Choice Texas Home, buyers can receive down payment assistance of up to 5 percent. This takes the form of a low- or no-interest second mortgage that might be forgiven, depending on which program you qualify for.

The Virginia Housing Development Authority has both a down payment grant and a closing cost assistance grant. The down payment grant can be used with FHA or conventional loans, while the closing cost grant can be used with USDA and VA loans. And both programs can be paired with a mortgage credit certificate (MCC) which reduces your federal tax bill.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) has nine different down payment assistance programs. Help ranges from $10,000 or 4% of your mortgage balance, right to up to $55,000 for eligible buyers in Seattle.

Learn more at the WHEDA website. You should also check out the Easy Close down payment assistance program which can provide up to 6% of your primary loan amount as a 10-year fixed-rate loan that requires repayment.

The Office of Housing provides downpayment assistance to first-time homebuyers at or below 80% of area median income through partnerships with local nonprofits and lending institutions. Our partners use Seattle Housing Levy funds, in addition to various other subsidy sources to create affordable homeownership opportunities in Seattle. See more information about our partner Homeownership Organizations below and learn about your eligibility for this program.

HomeSight (206) 723-4355HomeSight is a nonprofit community development corporation that promotes affordable homeownership opportunities through homebuyer education and financial planning, buyer purchase assistance loan underwriting and origination, and new home construction. Through private and public partnerships, HomeSight provides purchase assistance to qualified first-time homebuyers in the form of a low interest loan, and potential borrowers may access up to $70,000 in downpayment assistance.

Parkview Services(877) 541-9846 Parkview Services creates inclusive housing solutions that promote stability, opportunity and community. For over 25 years Parkview has supported people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities through the numerous programs that include HUD housing counseling, first time home buyer classes, post purchase financial management, default prevention and down payment assistance. Parkview Services provides purchase assistance to qualified first-time homebuyers in the form of a low interest deferred second mortgage. Eligible homebuyers may access as much as $110,000 in down payment assistance by layering multiple down payment sources.

Washington State Housing Finance Commission (206) 464-7139The Seattle Down Payment Assistance Program is a down payment assistance, second mortgage loan program that combines with the House Advantage or House Key first mortgage program. This program is for people buying a primary residence within the city limits of Seattle. This progarm allows up to $55,000 in down payment assistance with payments deferred for 30 years, at 3% simple interest.

Generally, downpayment assistance programs that use Office of Housing funds will require the following eligibility and property selection criteria. Please work with one of the homeownership organizations listed above to confirm specific eligibility and property selection criteria with the downpayment assistance program you will be using.

Assistance Amounts Up to a maximum of $55,000 per household is available for downpayment assistance for open market purchases or for unrestricted homes developed by a homeownership partner organization. For resale restricted homes, developed by homeownership partner organizations the amount of assistance is higher. Up to $70,000, for homes with fewer than 3 bedrooms or up to $90,000 per unit for homes with 3 or more bedrooms.

Housing Counseling Requirement The Office of Housing requires that homebuyers using downpayment assistance receive one-on-one housing counseling in addition to the homebuyer education program. There are currently two approved organizations that offer this service: HomeSight and Parkview Services.

Down payment assistance programs are administered at federal, state, and local levels. Federal DPA programs include first-time home buyer tax credits, cash grants to buy homes, and interest rate subsidies that maximize home affordability.

The proposed Downpayment Toward Equity Act is a cash grant program with a 5-year payback period. It gives first-time buyers up to $25,000 in cash for downpayment, closing costs, and other home purchases.

There is no comprehensive national database for down payment assistance programs. Some home buyer programs are applied automatically, including property tax abatement and federal tax credits to first-time buyers. Other down payment assistance programs can only be claimed with an application.

Prior to applying for down payment assistance, review the terms and conditions to ensure they mesh with your financial goals. For example, some DPA programs require buyers to finance with an FHA mortgage. Others may enforce a residency requirement of five years or more.

State and local programs, however, may place constraints on financing or home type, and require buyers to use a specific mortgage type or mortgage companies, offsetting the benefits of the down payment assistance program entirely.

Low-income, first-time homebuyers may qualify for a low-interest, deferred payment loan of up to 17% of the purchase price for down payment assistance and 4%, up to $10,000 in closing costs assistance.

The Homeownership Incentive Program (HIP 80) provides assistance for homebuyers in the general public by lending between $1,000 and $30,000 as a 0% interest / no payments second loan which can be used for the down-payment required by your lender and some of the additional costs associated with purchasing a home. 041b061a72