Home / Buying / Down-Payment Assistance
Down-payment assistance in Texas, explained straight
Two state agencies run the major programs, both legitimately useful and chronically misunderstood. This page explains how they work and links the official sources — we have no lender relationships, take no referral fees, and the only thing we're selling is clarity.
The two agencies and their programs
| Program | Who runs it | The shape of it | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| My First Texas Home | TDHCA (state housing dept.) | First-time buyers (or 3+ years out of ownership): below-market 30-yr loan with down-payment/closing-cost assistance attached, income and price limits by county | tdhca.texas.gov |
| My Choice Texas Home | TDHCA | Similar structure without the first-time requirement | tdhca.texas.gov |
| Home Sweet Texas | TSAHC (state affordable housing corp.) | Grant or forgivable second-lien assistance (commonly ~2–5% of the loan) for low-to-moderate income buyers; not first-time-restricted | tsahc.org |
| Homes for Texas Heroes | TSAHC | Same structure for teachers, police, firefighters, EMS, corrections officers, veterans, and certain others | tsahc.org |
Income and purchase-price limits vary by county (Parker and Tarrant limits differ), change at least annually, and depend on household size — we deliberately don't print numbers that go stale; both agencies publish current-limit lookups and eligibility quizzes on the official sites above. Programs run through participating lenders, so check eligibility before choosing one.
The honest fine print nobody leads with
Assistance isn't free money in every case — some forms are grants, others are second liens forgiven over time or repaid at sale/refinance; know which one you're signing. The attached first-mortgage rate may run slightly above the open market's best — for cash-constrained buyers the assistance usually outweighs it, but run both versions. Layering matters: military buyers should compare a VA loan's zero-down against DPA programs before assuming assistance wins (the military hub covers the VA side). And every program still requires you to qualify on credit and debt-to-income — assistance solves the cash problem, not the qualification problem. Check what your income supports either way with the affordability calculator.
Keep reading
the buyer's guide · the Builder Incentive Index · the rent-vs-buy engine · the HOA guide
Get the West Fort Worth Buyer's Field Guide
The full corridor playbook by email — plus the monthly Buyer Report with the Builder Incentive Index, so you know what builders are actually giving away before you tour.