Florida’s Hometown Heroes - A New Down Payment Assistance Program

On May 23rd Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the creation of a new down payment assistance program geared towards helping hometown heroes purchase their first home.

The Florida General Assembly appropriate $100 million towards this new program, which is set to go live June 1st. The program will be administered through the Florida Housing department.

The program offers down payment assistance in the form of a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage. Which essentially means it is added to the back-end of a person’s mortgage. A person can receive up to 5% of the purchase price (capped at $25,000) to assist in the down payment and closing costs of the loan.

The down payment assistance can be used on a FHA, VA, USDA, and certain conventional loans, as long as the borrower is a first-time home buyer. The loan must also be a 30-year term at a fixed rate.

There are certain income limits, based on the county the borrower is purchasing in, as well as limits to how much a person can borrow under the program. For Manatee and Sarasota counties, the limits are as follows:

Income limit: $129,450

FHA & USDA: $420,680

VA and Conventional: $647,200

There are almost 50 occupations that are eligible for the program. See below for a list of the eligible occupations.