Down Payment Assistance Programs Available in Texas
The down payment is the wall most renters believe they cannot climb. But Texas quietly runs some of the most generous assistance programs in the country, and many buyers who assume they earn too much — or saved too little — qualify without knowing it. Here is the landscape.
The two statewide heavyweights
TSAHC, the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation, offers assistance as either an outright grant or a deferred forgivable second lien, generally requiring a 620 credit score. Its Homes for Texas Heroes track serves teachers, police, firefighters, EMS personnel, corrections officers, and veterans — and notably, TSAHC does not require you to be a first-time buyer.
TDHCA's My First Texas Home pairs a low-rate first mortgage with up to 5 percent in down payment and closing cost help. It is aimed at first-time buyers, with exceptions for veterans and buyers in targeted areas.
Between TSAHC and TDHCA, most qualifying Texans have at least one statewide door open.
City programs stack real dollars on top
Many DFW cities run their own homebuyer assistance programs, typically structured as forgivable second liens with no monthly payment — stay in the home for the required period and the debt simply disappears. Dallas and Fort Worth both operate programs with five-figure assistance amounts, and smaller cities and counties around the Metroplex have their own versions with their own income limits.
These programs are funded by annual budgets, which means they can and do run out of money partway through the year. Timing matters.
City money is real money, but it is first come, first served. Ask early in your home search, not at the closing table.
What it takes to qualify
Most programs share the same skeleton: a minimum credit score around 620, household income under a county-specific cap, a purchase price under the program limit, and completion of a homebuyer education course. The income caps are higher than most families expect — often well into six figures for the DFW counties.
The one hard requirement people overlook: you must use a lender approved to originate these programs. Not every mortgage company participates, and the assistance cannot be bolted on after the fact.
Assistance is arranged before you shop, through a participating lender. Sequence is everything.
Our team works with these programs constantly, and we walk every client through the full menu of what they qualify for — sometimes the answer is assistance, sometimes a straight FHA or conventional loan wins. Call Steve Barton at 214.673.1319 or visit corecommunitymortgage.com and let's find out what is on the table for you.
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