Down Payment Assistance in Florida and Miami-Dade: every program, who qualifies

How assistance actually works

Almost none of this money arrives as a check. It arrives as a second mortgage recorded behind your first loan, sometimes at zero percent with no payment, sometimes forgiven over a set number of years, sometimes with a small monthly payment. The first mortgage still has to be approved on its own, which is why every program routes you through a participating lender rather than an application window at a county office.

Three rules apply almost everywhere: the home must be your primary residence, you must complete an approved homebuyer education course, and your income must sit under a published limit for your county. After that, the details diverge.

Florida Hometown Heroes

Run by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program is aimed at people who work full time for a Florida-based employer in a listed field: health care workers, school staff, first responders, public safety and court employees, child care workers, military service members, reserves, Coast Guard, Florida National Guard and veterans.

What it provides, in Florida Housing’s words: up to 5 percent of the total first mortgage loan amount, with a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000, delivered as a 0 percent, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage. The first mortgage can be FHA, VA, USDA Rural Development or conventional, with no origination or discount points.

Two things buyers misread:

• It is not forgiven. The full balance becomes due when you sell, refinance the first mortgage, transfer the deed, or stop occupying the home as your primary residence.
• It runs out. Florida Housing announced in February 2026 that the $50 million appropriated for the 2025-2026 fiscal year had been fully committed, noting that the program has quickly committed its funding every year since launch. Funds are reserved through participating lenders once you are under contract.

2026 limits for Miami-Dade

Florida Housing’s 2026 limits table for the program, effective with reservations as of May 6, 2026, lists Miami-Dade County as follows:

• Income limit: $204,300 for FHA, VA and Freddie Mac HFA Advantage first mortgages; $131,200 for USDA loans, all household sizes.
• Maximum first mortgage: $667,000 on FHA; $832,750 on HFA Advantage and VA.

Florida Housing describes the program as serving income-qualified first-time homebuyers, and its general first-time rule is that you cannot have owned and occupied your primary residence in the three years before purchase.

Florida Housing’s other seconds

The same agency runs a first-mortgage program with a minimum credit score of 640, an approved homebuyer education requirement, and county purchase-price and income limits. It pairs with one of three down payment products:

• Florida Assist (FL Assist). Up to $10,000 on FHA, VA, USDA and conventional loans as a 0 percent, non-amortizing, deferred second mortgage, repaid on sale, transfer, refinance or when you move out.
• Florida Homeownership Loan Program (FL HLP). $12,500 as a 3 percent, fully amortizing second mortgage over 30 years. This one has a monthly payment, which the lender counts in your ratios.
• HFA Preferred and HFA Advantage PLUS. 3, 4 or 5 percent of the loan amount as a forgivable second, forgiven at 20 percent a year over five years.

Miami-Dade County programs

The County’s Public Housing and Community Development department runs its own assistance for buyers who live in Miami-Dade at application and at closing.

Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Program

An interest-free loan of up to $35,000 toward the down payment on a first home, deferred for up to 30 years with no monthly payment. The unpaid balance is due on sale, transfer of title, refinance or death. The County also takes a share of resale profit: 100 percent if you sell within years one through three, 50 percent in years four through six, and 0 percent after six years.

Requirements on the County’s page: homebuyer counseling from a HUD-certified agency, completion of an approved education course, at least 1 percent of the price from your own funds, and a combined loan-to-value that does not exceed 105 percent. As of September 2026 the page lists income ceilings of $95,620 for an individual, $109,200 for a couple, $122,920 for a three-person household and $136,500 for four, without a fiscal-year label, so confirm the current figures with the department before you rely on them.

Affordable Homeownership Program

The umbrella program pairs the down payment loan above with a County second or third mortgage: a Homebuyer Loan of up to $100,000 at 1 percent interest or $80,000 at 2 percent, on a 30-year fixed term. Buyers need a minimum 3 percent down with 1 percent from their own funds, 24 months in the same line of work, a housing payment no higher than 45 percent of gross income, and U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence. The County publishes its FY 2025 income limits from 30 percent to 140 percent of area median income; for a family of four that range runs from $37,150 to $173,460. You apply after you have an executed sales contract, with tax returns, income verification, bank statements and your education certificate.

SHIP

The State Housing Initiatives Partnership sends state funds through Florida Housing to local governments, and Miami-Dade uses part of its allocation for down payment and closing cost assistance. Funds are tiered by income: very-low income at or below 50 percent of area median income, low income at or below 80 percent, and moderate income at or below 120 percent. Homebuyer education and counseling through an approved provider is mandatory. The County’s Local Housing Assistance Plan spells out the current year’s terms.

Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust

MDEAT’s Homeownership Assistance Program offers up to $28,000 as a zero-interest deferred loan for a primary residence anywhere in Miami-Dade County, on a new or existing single-family home, townhome or condo that is immediately habitable. Any licensed Florida mortgage lender can submit the application on your behalf.

FHA’s 3.5 percent and how the pieces stack

HUD states that with an FHA-insured loan your down payment can be as low as 3.5 percent of the purchase price. FHA’s handbook makes that maximum financing available to borrowers with a decision credit score at or above 580; between 500 and 579 the loan is limited to 90 percent of value. HUD also confirms the minimum investment may come from your own funds, gifts, second mortgages and grants through down payment assistance programs.

That is what makes layering possible: an FHA first mortgage, a Hometown Heroes or County second, and a gift can together cover the down payment and most closing costs. The limits come from three places:

• The first-mortgage lender, which decides which subordinate liens it will accept behind its loan.
• Each program’s own cap, such as Miami-Dade’s 105 percent combined loan-to-value and 1 percent from your own funds.
• The income test, applied separately by each program using its own definition of who is counted.

Ask the lender to write out the stack before you make an offer: first loan, each second, its terms, and who signs off on it.

How to apply

1. Get pre-approved by a participating lender. Florida Housing programs run only through its approved lenders; County programs go through approved lenders too. Ask on the first call which programs the lender is set up for.
2. Complete homebuyer education. Use a HUD-certified counseling agency so the certificate satisfies every program at once.
3. Gather the file. Tax returns, recent pay stubs, bank statements, identification, and proof of employment in an eligible field if you are using Hometown Heroes.
4. Get under contract with realistic dates. Assistance adds underwriting steps. Build the Loan Approval Period and closing date around them.
5. Reserve the funds. Florida Housing money is reserved by the lender once you are under contract; County programs review after the executed contract arrives.

The mistakes that cost buyers the money

• Assuming the funds are there. Hometown Heroes pauses when its appropriation is committed. Ask the lender whether reservations are open the week you plan to offer.
• Reading “deferred” as “forgiven.” The Florida Housing seconds, except the HFA PLUS products, and the County loan are repaid when you sell or refinance. Plan the exit.
• Forgetting the equity share. Selling a County-assisted home in the first three years gives 100 percent of the profit to the County.
• Counting income the wrong way. Overtime, a second job and a co-borrower’s earnings can push you over a limit that looked comfortable.
• Changing jobs mid-process. Hometown Heroes is tied to full-time employment with a Florida-based employer; the County wants 24 months in the same line of work.
• Doing education last. A missing certificate is the most common reason a closing slips.

Program terms, limits and funding are set by the agencies named above and change without notice. Figures here are quoted from the agencies' published pages and documents as of September 2026. Confirm current terms with a participating lender before relying on them. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.