The HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program provides qualified homebuyers with up to $100,000 toward the down payment or closing costs on a 1-4 family home, a condominium, or a cooperative in one of the five boroughs of New York City.
Program Eligibility
A prospective homebuyer must:
- Be a first-time homebuyer
- Complete a homebuyer education course taught by an HPD-approved counseling agency
- Have their own savings to contribute to the down payment or closing costs
- Meet program income eligibility requirements
- Make a minimum down payment of 3% of the purchase price towards the home purchase, 1% of the contract deposit must be sourced from the buyer's own funds
- Purchase a 1-4 unit family home, a condominium, or a cooperative for owner-occupancy in one of the five boroughs of New York City
- Pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection before purchase
- Live in the home for at least:
- 10 years if the loan received is less than or equal to $40,000
- 15 years if the loan is greater than $40,000
- Have a maximum household income up to 80% AMI:
Family Size80% AMI1$74,8002$85,4503$96,1504$106,8005$115,3506$123,9007$132,4508$141,000
Effective Date: 6/15/22; Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Process
Community-based counseling agencies certified by HUD and approved by HPD to participate in the HomeFirst program will promote the program through newsletters, flyers, and seminars; distribute program guidelines; and enroll consumers in Homebuyer Education classes. The counseling agencies will also certify income eligibility for the Down Payment Assistance Program, counsel consumers about program requirements, certify completion of Homebuyer Education classes, and refer consumers to participating lenders for pre-approval. Contact any one of the following HPD-approved counseling agencies.
Contact a counseling agency today!
Please reach out to one of the Counseling Agencies in your borough from the list below to start the application process.
Click a borough, or press the enter key on a borough, to reveal the counseling agencies in that borough.
The Bronx NHS CDC, Inc.
1451 East Gun Hill Road 2nd Fl.
Bronx, NY 10469
Tel: 718-881-1180
Languages: English and Spanish
NHSNYC-South Bronx
2475 Westchester Avenue
Bronx NY 10461
Tel: 718-502-3300
Languages: English and Spanish
Asian Americans For Equality
133-29 41st Avenue, Suite 201
Flushing, NY 11355
Tel: 718-961-0888
Languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese
Margert Community Corporation
325 Beach 37th Street
Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Tel: 718-471-3724
Languages: English and Spanish
NHS of Queens CDC, Inc.
60-20 Woodside Avenue 2nd Fl.
Woodside, NY 11377
Tel: 718-457-1017
Languages: English and Spanish
Chhaya CDC
37-43 77th Street, 2nd Fl.
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Tel: 718-478-3848 x12
Languages: Bangla/Bengali, English, Hindi, and Urdu
NHS of Jamaica
89-70 162nd Street
Jamaica, NY 11432
Tel: 718-291-7400 x13
Languages: English
Upon the successful completion of the Homebuyer Education class, prospective home buyesr will receive a certificate that verifies their eligibility for the forgivable loan of up to $100,000 towards the down payment or closing costs on a new home. The certificate is valid for six months, with a subsequent six-month renewal period. After receiving the certificate, prospective homebuyers begin the path to homeownership.
Step 1: Present the certificate of eligibility to a participating lender for pre-approval on a mortgage loan.
Step 2: After receiving pre-approval from a participating lender, consult a reputable real estate professional to identify an affordable home.
Step 4: Hire a real estate lawyer.
Step 5: Negotiate a contract of sale with the seller.
The homebuyer education counselors will be available to assist program participants throughout the home buying process. Program participants are encouraged to take advantage of this resource.
Program Administration
Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City (NHS) administers the program on HPD's behalf. As administrator, NHS works with the homebuyer and the representative from the counseling agency to:
The city’s “Philly First Home” program launched in June 2019, offering $10,000 to help first-time buyers with their down payment or closing costs. After handing out more than $24 million in assistance, the program closed in September 2020.
This week, the program was relaunched by the Division of Housing and Community Development and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation. It is again offering $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price (whichever is lower), to help new homeowners move in.
The program is “one more tool in the city’s toolbox to help make home ownership a reality for our residents,” said Mayor Jim Kenney in a statement. “As Philadelphia continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, I look forward to seeing this vital program reopen and help even more Philadelphians own their own homes.”
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To be eligible, recipients must be first-time buyers, or have not owned a home in the past three years. Recipients must have a household income of less than the city’s Area Median Income. The AMI for a household of four in Philadelphia is $105,400. The home purchased must be in the city.
New homeowners must also complete housing counseling at a DHCD funded counseling agency.
“Buying a home is the most significant investment most people will ever make,” said Council President Darrell Clarke. “Anything that city government can do to assist that big step for first-time homebuyers, and to help them build wealth and generational equity for themselves and their families, is very positive.”
Within the first 15 years after the grant money is issued, the financial aid must be paid back to the program if the recipients sell or lease their home, or if it’s refinanced to take cash out of the property.
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The first iteration of the program distributed 2,700 grants worth nearly $8,900 on average. About half the homes were purchased for less than $175,000, and 60% of recipients moved into a home less than three miles from their previous address.
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