Saving up for a down payment can be difficult. With the rising costs of housing, paying for existing loans and wages staying about the same, often times assistance is needed for a down payment. Generally, down payment assistance has income limits. You don’t have to be a first time home buyer necessarily, but the assistance almost always needs to be for a primary residence. Here are a few things to know:

• Down payment assistance has income caps, generally
• Programs vary by geographic area
• Different assistance programs have different repayment or forgiveness terms
• Not all lenders will work with down payment assistance
• Home buyer education is frequently required with down payment programs
• Additional underwriting guidelines apply
• Buyers must qualify under those program guidelines

Here are some more thoughts on ways to cover the down payment in this short video:

In Minnesota, the Home Ownership Center has a lookup tool to find many of the available programs:
DPA Lookup Tool

Nationally, Fannie Mae has a database of available down payment assistance programs:
Know Your Options

Locally, we work with all of the programs offered by Neighborworks. You can see the details of their programs on their page:
Neighborworks DPA Programs