Down payment assistance program guide

Down payment assistance program guide for Miami-Dade buyers.

Learn how grants, forgivable loans, deferred loans, repayable second loans, eligibility rules, income limits, documents, and program funding may affect your options.

Common Assistance Types

Down payment assistance is not one single program. It can include grants, deferred loans, forgivable loans, lender credits, employer assistance, and local or state housing programs. The right match depends on the buyer, location, household income, property, and lender.

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Grants

Funds that may not have to be repaid if the buyer meets all requirements.

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Deferred Loans

Repayment may be delayed until sale, refinance, or another triggering event.

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Forgivable Loans

Funds may be forgiven after a set time if occupancy and other rules are met.

Eligibility Factors

First-time buyer status
Household income
Property location
Purchase price limits
Credit and lending guidelines
Occupancy requirements
Homebuyer education
Available program funding

Program details that matter

Compare down payment assistance types before relying on funds.

Down payment assistance programs are not all the same. Some help with upfront cash, some help with closing costs, and some create obligations that may last after closing. Buyers should compare eligibility, repayment, forgiveness, occupancy rules, property limits, lender compatibility, and program availability.

Illustration of a Miami home, program checklist, and dollar symbol for down payment assistance comparison

Grant-like assistance

Some funds may not require repayment if the buyer meets all rules, but eligibility and funding availability still need confirmation.

Compare grant rules

Forgivable or deferred loans

Loan-based assistance may be forgiven after a required period or repaid later when the home is sold, refinanced, or no longer occupied as required.

Compare forgivable vs deferred

Closing cost planning

Even with assistance, buyers may need money for inspections, appraisal, reserves, prepaid items, deposits, or uncovered closing costs.

See what closing costs are covered

After comparing program types, follow the assistance process or start a review.

Side by side

How the assistance types compare.

Assistance reaches the closing table in a few different ways, and each one creates a different obligation afterward. Compare them before you count on any single program.

Assistance type	How it reaches closing	Repayment	Forgiveness	Occupancy rule	What to confirm first
Grant	Applied as a credit at closing through a participating lender. The buyer does not receive the funds directly.	None, as long as every program rule is met.	Not applicable — nothing is owed to begin with.	Usually must be the buyer’s primary residence; some grants add a short retention period.	That funds are still available and reserved in writing. Funding rounds can close without notice.
Forgivable second loan	Recorded as a second mortgage at closing, with no monthly payment.	None while the terms are met.	Forgiven on a schedule, often after a set number of years of continuous owner occupancy.	Yes. Selling, refinancing, or renting the home early can cancel the remaining forgiveness.	The exact forgiveness period, what restarts or voids it, and what counts as a breach.
Deferred (“silent”) second loan	Recorded as a second mortgage at closing, with no monthly payment.	The balance is typically due on sale, refinance, transfer of title, or when the home is no longer the primary residence.	Usually none. Deferral delays repayment; it does not cancel it.	Yes. The loan generally comes due when occupancy ends.	Whether interest accrues, and how the lien may affect a future refinance.
Repayable second loan	Recorded as a second mortgage with its own monthly payment.	Yes. A monthly payment runs alongside the first mortgage.	None.	Typically primary residence only.	How the second payment affects debt-to-income and the monthly budget, not just cash to close.
Lender or seller credit	Negotiated into the loan terms or the purchase contract to reduce cash needed at closing.	No separate repayment.	Not applicable.	None beyond the first mortgage’s own occupancy terms.	The trade-off. A lender credit is often funded by a higher interest rate, and a seller credit may be offset by a higher purchase price.

Program terms differ by provider and change with funding. Treat this as a comparison framework for the questions to ask, not a description of any one program’s current rules.

Grant-like assistance

Grant-like assistance is the only category where nothing is owed back, which is why it is also the most competitive and the most conditional. The absence of repayment does not mean the absence of rules.

It is applied, not paid out. Funds move from the provider to the closing table through a participating lender. A buyer who plans to receive cash and deposit it is usually misreading the program.
Availability is the real constraint. Grant funds are allocated in rounds and can be exhausted mid-search. Reserved funds should be confirmed in writing before an offer is written.
Conditions still attach. Primary-residence occupancy, income limits, purchase price caps, and homebuyer education are common, and a short retention period may still apply.
Not every lender participates. A grant is only usable with an approved lender, so lender choice and program choice have to be made together.

Compared with the loan-based options, a grant lowers cash to close without adding a lien — but it is the option most likely to disappear before closing. See forgivable and deferred loans for what happens when assistance is recorded against the property.

Forgivable or deferred loans

Both are recorded as a second mortgage and both usually skip the monthly payment, which is why buyers often treat them as the same thing. They are not. The difference is whether the balance eventually goes away.

Forgivable means the balance is written off over time. Forgiveness is typically earned through continuous owner occupancy over a defined period. Leave early and the unearned portion generally becomes payable.
Deferred means the balance waits. Payment is postponed rather than canceled, and it usually comes due on sale, refinance, title transfer, or the end of primary occupancy.
Both create a lien. A recorded second position can affect a future refinance, a home equity request, or the net proceeds of a sale, even when no monthly payment was ever made.
The clock deserves a written answer. How long the period runs, whether it is prorated, what voids it, and whether interest accrues are the questions that separate the two structures in practice.

A buyer expecting to move, refinance, or convert the home to a rental within a few years should weigh the forgiveness period carefully. Review the assistance process for where these terms are confirmed in writing.

Closing cost planning

Assistance is often described as covering the down payment, and buyers reasonably assume it covers everything due at closing. It usually does not. Planning for the gap is what keeps a closing date from slipping.

Commonly assisted. Down payment, and in many cases a portion of lender and title closing costs.
Commonly not assisted. Inspections, appraisal fees paid up front, the earnest money deposit, prepaid taxes and insurance, escrow reserves, association application fees, and moving costs.
Reserves may be required anyway. Some programs and some lenders ask a buyer to show remaining funds after closing, which means assistance does not remove the need for savings.
Timing matters. Several of these costs are paid before closing, so they cannot be covered by funds that only arrive at the closing table.

A realistic cash-to-close estimate should be built before shopping, not after an offer is accepted. Start a program review to work through the numbers for a specific price range.