First-Time Buyer in Tampa Uses Down Payment Assistance

The challenge

She had stable income and solid credit but less than $8,000 in savings, not enough for a down payment plus closing costs on a starter home in the Tampa market.

The structure

Loan type: FHA purchase + Florida Hometown Heroes down payment assistance

An FHA loan at 3.5% down paired with Florida Hometown Heroes assistance (up to 5% of the first mortgage, max $35,000, as a 0% deferred second mortgage). The assistance covered the down payment; a modest seller credit covered most closing costs.

The outcome (illustrative)

• Down payment covered almost entirely by the assistance second mortgage, no monthly payment on it.
• Total cash to close reduced to a fraction of what a conventional 5%-down purchase would have required.
• Assistance balance deferred until sale, refinance, or payoff of the first mortgage.

Figures above are hypothetical and for education only. Your terms depend on credit, property, program guidelines, and market conditions at the time you apply, confirmed in a Loan Estimate, never on this page.