Florida Down Payment Assistance Programs

How Florida Housing assistance works

Florida Housing does not lend to you directly. You apply through a participating lender, who originates a 30-year fixed first mortgage under one of Florida Housing's programs and attaches the assistance as a second mortgage recorded behind it. The lender reserves the funds for your loan, and the money is applied at closing toward down payment and closing costs.

That structure has three consequences buyers often miss:

• It is a lien. Most of these programs are loans, not grants. They sit on title and get paid back from your proceeds when you sell, refinance, transfer title or stop living in the home.
• The lender matters. Only participating lenders can offer the programs. A lender you like who isn't on Florida Housing's list can't add it later.
• Your first mortgage is set by the program. Rates on program first mortgages can be a little different from the open market, so compare the total package, not the assistance amount alone.

The statewide programs as of 2026

• Hometown Heroes: 5% of the first mortgage loan amount, with a $10,000 minimum and $35,000 maximum, at 0% interest and deferred, repaid on sale, refinance, transfer or when the home is no longer your primary residence. It is aimed at full-time workers for Florida-based employers in a long list of occupations, including teachers, nurses and other health care workers, law enforcement, firefighters and other first responders, plus active military, reserve and National Guard members. Income can go up to 150% of area median income.
• FL Assist: up to $10,000, 0% and deferred on the same repayment triggers. Not forgivable.
• HFA PLUS second mortgage: paired with Florida Housing's HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage first mortgages, sized at 3%, 4% or 5% of the first loan and forgiven gradually over five years if you stay.
• FL HLP: a smaller second mortgage that, unlike the others, has a monthly payment.

Amounts, income limits and purchase price limits are set per county and change. These figures come from 2026 program descriptions. Before you count on any number, have a participating lender confirm it in writing.

Hometown Heroes funding and timing

Hometown Heroes is funded by the Legislature in rounds, and money is reserved first-come, first-served through lenders. Past rounds have been fully committed months before the fiscal year ended. A new $50 million round opened on July 13, 2026.

Practically, that means two things. First, get preapproved with a participating lender before you start touring, so a reservation can be made the day you go under contract. Second, have a backup plan. If funding runs out between your contract and your lock, you want a version of the deal that still closes with FL Assist, an HFA PLUS grant or a local program instead.

Here is what the 5% looks like at different prices, assuming FHA with 3.5% down:

• Florida typical home, $375,361: loan about $362,223, Hometown Heroes about $18,111.
• Typical Polk County home, $295,509: loan about $285,166, assistance about $14,258.
• Typical Miami-Dade home, $523,240: loan about $504,927, assistance about $25,246.

The $35,000 cap is reached at a first mortgage of $700,000, so the cap rarely binds for buyers within the program's price limits.

Who qualifies

The shared rules across the statewide programs:

• First-time buyer: generally, no ownership of a primary residence in the past three years. Veterans and buyers in certain targeted areas can be exempt from this test.
• Primary residence: you must live in the home. Second homes and investment purchases are not eligible.
• Income and price limits: set by county and household size.
• Credit score: program minimums apply, commonly 640, and your lender may set a higher floor.
• Homebuyer education: at least one borrower completes an approved course before closing.
• One program at a time: the statewide programs can't be stacked with each other, and each buyer uses Florida Housing assistance once.

Canadians and other buyers who will not live in the home full time are outside these programs. They are designed for people buying the place they live.

Local programs: SHIP and county or city help

Many Florida counties and cities run their own assistance, usually funded through the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program and administered by the local housing office. Amounts, income limits and terms differ a lot from one jurisdiction to the next. Some are deferred loans forgiven after a set number of years. Some require the home to be inside city limits.

Local programs can sometimes be layered with a Florida Housing first mortgage, which a statewide second cannot. Ask your lender which local programs they close regularly. A lender who has never closed with a county's program will be slow, and slow can cost you a contract in a competitive deal.

What a deferred second mortgage means when you sell

A 0% deferred loan feels free while you live in the house, and in a sense it is: no payment and no interest. The cost shows up at the exit. When you sell or refinance, the full original amount comes off the top of your proceeds, along with the first mortgage.

Run that forward with real numbers. A buyer who received $18,111 on a $375,361 home owes $18,111 at sale, whether that sale is three years or twenty years later. If values rise, the repayment shrinks as a share of the home. If values dip, as Zillow shows Florida condos did over the past year (down 3.9%), the repayment comes out of thinner equity. That matters most to buyers who expect to move within a few years.

Refinancing is the other trigger people forget. If rates fall and you want to refinance the first mortgage, the deferred second is usually due, or must be subordinated with the agency's approval, so factor it into any refinance plan.

Making assistance work in a real offer

Assistance changes how a seller sees your offer, mostly because of timing. Program loans take longer to approve and fund, and the second mortgage has its own conditions. A few habits help:

• Write a closing date with enough room for program review, and ask your lender how many days they need.
• Keep the property inside the program's price limit after negotiations. Going over the limit at the last minute can disqualify the second mortgage.
• Check condo eligibility early. FHA and other program first mortgages need the condo project to meet loan guidelines, and many Florida buildings with reserve or milestone inspection issues don't.
• Budget for insurance. Program approval uses your full payment, and Florida homeowners and flood insurance can be a large piece of it.

This isn't legal or tax advice. If you tell me your county, price range and loan type, I can put together a shortlist of homes that fit inside the program limits.