Texas Down Payment Assistance 2026: What First-Time Buyers Need to Know

Down payment assistance in Texas is money from a state, county, or city program that pays part of your down payment or closing costs. It usually comes as a grant you never repay, or as a second loan behind your first mortgage with no monthly payment, often forgiven after you stay in the home for a set period. The state programs center on up to 5% of the loan amount, and San Antonio runs its own city program, HIP 80, that lends $1,000 to $30,000 as a forgivable second loan. Here's what actually qualifies, what credit you need, and how the San Antonio angle works, in plain English.

What is down payment assistance in Texas?

Down payment assistance, or DPA, is a program benefit, not a loan from your bank. A government or nonprofit program agrees to cover part of what you would otherwise have to save: the down payment, some of the closing costs, or both. In Texas it shows up one of two ways:

• A grant. Money that is applied to your purchase and never repaid. That is the cleanest version, and it is exactly what it sounds like.
• A forgivable second loan. A second lien behind your first mortgage at 0% interest with no monthly payment. It is forgiven, meaning wiped out, after you stay in the home for the program's required period. Sell or refinance before that period ends and the remaining balance can come due.

The state programs in Texas center on up to 5% of the loan amount, and San Antonio's HOME program adds a second option: a forgivable 0% interest second loan of $1,000 to $30,000 for buyers inside city limits. On a $350,000 loan, 5% is $17,500 of help. That is real money, and it is why the question is not "does assistance exist" but "which program fits you." Let's get into it.

The main Texas down payment assistance programs

Four programs cover most Texas buyers, and the good news is they are simple to tell apart. Here are the facts, program by program, and I am only using numbers the programs actually publish.

TDHCA My First Texas Home

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs runs My First Texas Home, the statewide program for first-time buyers. It provides up to 5% of the loan amount for down payment and closing costs as a 0% interest loan or a grant, with a minimum credit score around 620. Income and purchase price limits vary by county and household size, so there is no single number that fits everyone, and first-time buyer status is the general rule (eligible repeat buyers can look at TDHCA's My Choice Texas Home instead).

TSAHC Home Sweet Texas Home Loan

The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation's Home Sweet Texas Home Loan pairs a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with down payment assistance up to 5% of the loan amount. Credit minimums are 620 on government loans and 640 for HFA conventional. Income limits vary by county and product, up to 150% of area median income for some products, so this one reaches higher-income households than people expect. Repeat buyers qualify. The assistance comes as a grant or a second lien forgiven after three years, and the program works with FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional loans, which makes it one of the most flexible options in the state.

TSAHC Homes for Texas Heroes

If you teach, fight fires, work EMS, police or corrections, or served in the military, Homes for Texas Heroes is your program: same class of assistance, up to 5%, with income limits up to 170% of area median income for some products. The catch is the occupation requirement, not the buyer history, so the profession gate comes first and the lender confirms your county's income cap.

San Antonio HIP 80

San Antonio's Homeownership Incentive Program, HIP 80, is a city program, and that matters: it only works for primary residences inside San Antonio city limits, for households at or below 80% of area median income. It is a forgivable 0% interest second loan of $1,000 to $30,000, with no payments. Loans of $1,000 to $15,000 are forgiven over 5 years, and $15,001 to $30,000 over 10 years. The 2026 city income limits are $56,350 for one person, $64,400 for two, $72,450 for three, $80,500 for four, $86,950 for five, and $93,400 for six. HIP 80 generally requires first-time buyer status, an 8-hour HUD-approved homebuyer education course, and a minimum of roughly $500 in earnest money, and purchase price caps run about $263,000 for existing homes and $278,000 for new builds. Treat those caps as approximate and confirm the current figures with the City, because they can move.

Who qualifies for down payment assistance in Texas?

Eligibility comes down to five gates, and this is what most buyers get wrong: they assume they fail, so they never check. The gates are:

• Where the home is. County for the state programs, San Antonio city limits for HIP 80.
• Household size. Income limits are set per household, so the same income passes for a family of four and fails for a single filer, or the other way around.
• Gross income. Checked against the program's area median income tier for your county.
• Occupation. Only for Homes for Texas Heroes, where the profession list is the whole point.
• First-time buyer status. TDHCA My First Texas Home and HIP 80 generally target first-time buyers, while TSAHC Home Sweet Texas Home and TDHCA's My Choice Texas Home open the door to eligible repeat buyers.

If you owned a home in the past three years, the state programs are still very much on the table. That is the answer buyers are most surprised by.

What credit score do you need?

Around 620 is the number to know. TDHCA My First Texas Home asks for a minimum credit score around 620. TSAHC asks for 620 on government loans and 640 for HFA conventional. Here's the key: down payment assistance rides on a qualifying first mortgage, so the credit minimum of the loan itself matters too. FHA accepts scores as low as 580 with 3.5% down, so a buyer with a lower score is not automatically out, the loan type and the program have to line up, and the lender confirms the combination on your actual file. For the broader money questions, the first-time homebuyer FAQ covers pre-approval, closing costs, and how much you need.

Is down payment assistance a loan or a grant?

Both, and the right answer depends on the program. TDHCA My First Texas Home offers a 0% interest loan or a grant, applied to your purchase. TSAHC assistance can be a grant or a second lien forgiven after three years. San Antonio's HIP 80 is a forgivable second loan at 0% interest with no payments, forgiven over 5 or 10 years depending on the amount. What none of these are is a traditional second mortgage with a monthly payment. You have one monthly housing payment, your first mortgage, and the assistance sits behind it quietly until forgiveness or sale.

Can you combine down payment assistance with other programs?

Yes, and this is where the savings really stack. TSAHC's Home Sweet Texas Home explicitly works with FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional loans, so a low-down-payment loan plus up to 5% assistance plus seller concessions can shrink your cash to close dramatically. Seller concessions let the seller pay part of your closing costs out of the negotiated contract, which stacks on top of assistance rather than competing with it. The result: buyers who combine the right loan, assistance, and concessions often bring far less to closing than the down payment alone would suggest. The limits and the exact sequence are where the detail lives, and that is webinar material, but you can see the math yourself in the Texas Cash-to-Close Calculator, which walks you through the same buckets and subtracts the assistance and concessions you qualify for.

Do you have to pay down payment assistance back?

Grants, no, that is the point of a grant. Second liens, it depends on timing. TSAHC's second lien is forgiven after you stay in the home for three years. San Antonio's HIP 80 loans are forgiven over 5 years for $1,000 to $15,000, and over 10 years for $15,001 to $30,000. Stay through the forgiveness period and the balance is gone. Sell or refinance before it ends and the remaining balance can come due. That is the single most practical detail in this whole article, because it determines whether the help is truly yours or a deferred cost. Here's a pearl for you: know the forgiveness period before you pick the program, because it is the difference between a grant you never see again and a bill that can resurface.

The San Antonio angle: HIP 80 vs. the state programs

If your home is inside San Antonio city limits, you get to compare HIP 80 against the state programs: $1,000 to $30,000 as a forgivable second loan at or below 80% of area median income, with the 8-hour homebuyer education course and the roughly $500 earnest money generally required. If your home is in Bexar County outside the city limits, or in Stone Oak, Alamo Ranch, Boerne, Cibolo, Helotes, Schertz, Bulverde, Converse, New Braunfels, or anywhere else in the Hill Country, HIP 80 does not apply, and the state programs, TDHCA My First Texas Home and the TSAHC lines, are your main options. Those state programs span all Texas counties, so the county you buy in picks your play. I originate financing statewide in Texas and sell real estate across Greater San Antonio and the Hill Country, so I see both sides of that line every week.

Check your fit in 60 seconds

The fastest honest way to see where you stand, before you talk to a lender or schedule a course, is to run your answers once. The Texas Down Payment Assistance Checker asks five questions: county, household size, household gross income, occupation, and first-time buyer status. It compares your answers against TDHCA, both TSAHC lines, and San Antonio HIP 80, and shows which ones plausibly fit. Check your fit in 60 seconds: it is free, it takes about a minute, and it is the same screen I run for my own buyers before we talk numbers.

The webinar: stacking assistance, concessions, and the right loan

Here's where I hold back, on purpose. The figure that matters is rarely "what is the maximum assistance." It is how the program, the loan type, the seller concessions, and your cash all fit together for one specific purchase, in one specific county, at one point in time. The exact sequencing, the limits that pinch, and the mistakes that cost buyers thousands are the how, and I keep the how for the live room.

In the free Essential First-Time Homebuyer Roadmap Webinar, I break down how to stack down payment assistance with seller concessions and the right loan program, using real numbers and the Patriot Pro Tips I have learned in over 23 years of loan origination and 19 years in real estate sales. We cover the whole roadmap, from getting prepared and approved through the offer, inspection, appraisal, underwriting, closing, and getting the keys, and down payment assistance is part of it. It is free, it is live, and bring your questions, because that is where the real savings happen. Hopefully that makes sense, and if the checker got you curious, the webinar is where the map gets filled in.

Frequently asked questions

Not a guarantee: down payment assistance figures change, and final eligibility is determined by each program and by your lender. Income and purchase price limits vary by county, product, and household size, credit requirements apply, and HIP 80's price caps are approximate, so confirm current figures with the City of San Antonio and with the program before relying on them. This article is education from a licensed loan officer and REALTOR, not a commitment of assistance. The authoritative sources are the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation.