Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Aurora, CO figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
Of the purchase price
Assistance is sized as a share of the price, never a fixed sum: the biggest option covers the down payment and reaches closing costs, the smaller ones cover the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment.
Covers the whole FHA down payment
Nothing to repay, ever: this option pays the full 3.5% FHA minimum down payment and leaves no lien behind, for buyers within the area income limit or in a qualifying category.
On the forgivable and repayable options
No income cap on the forgivable and repayable options: earn what you earn. The nothing-to-repay option is the one exception, opening at or below 140% of area median income or through a qualifying category.
Credit score to start
The score that opens the nothing-to-repay option; the forgivable options start a step higher and the repayable options higher still. Two-borrower files may use a blended score on the second-lien options.
| Option | Assistance | What you repay | Credit · mortgage · units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant-style assistance — nothing to repay | 2% or 3.5% of the price | Nothing — released at closing | 620+ · FHA 203(b), FHA repair escrow, FHA Limited 203(k), FHA Standard 203(k) · 1–4 units |
| Forgivable second lien — three-year | 3.5% of the price | Nothing after 36 on-time mortgage payments | 640+ · FHA 203(b), FHA Limited 203(k), HUD-184, USDA · 1–2 units |
| Forgivable second lien — five-year | 3.5% of the price | Nothing after 60 on-time mortgage payments | 640+ · FHA 203(b), FHA Limited 203(k), HUD-184, USDA · 1–2 units |
| Repayable second lien — thirty-year amortization, ten-year balloon | 3.5% or 5% of the price | Second lien, 30-year amortization, balloon in year 10 | 660+ · FHA 203(b), FHA Limited 203(k), HUD-184, USDA · 1–2 units |
| Closing-cost repayable second lien | 3.5% or 5% of the price | Second lien, 30-year amortization, balloon in year 10 | 660+ · FHA 203(b) · 1–2 units |
| Refinance-cost second lien (repayable) | 1% to 3.5% of the balance | Second lien, repaid | 660+ · FHA 203(b) · 1–4 units |
Current down payment assistance snapshot · updated September 7, 2026 · six options offered in Colorado · no option requires a first-time buyer · no option combines with another assistance program · owner-occupied primary residences only.
The figures on this page are program parameters, not offers: assistance percentages, credit floors, unit limits, and forgiveness periods vary by option and by state, and every file is underwritten individually. The calculator estimates an FHA payment at an editable benchmark rate that is not a quote; no fee or lender is stated or implied. Lendmire brokers these loans through its wholesale network in sixteen licensed states, is never the lender, and is not affiliated with FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs work the same way in Aurora, CO as anywhere in the footprint: a government first lien, an assistance option sized as a percentage of the price, and a set of rules about credit, units, and eligibility that decide which option fits.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s down payment assistance program, or the statewide guide at Down Payment Assistance in Colorado.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
In Aurora, CO, the assistance attaches to the first lien at closing and covers the buyer’s required investment; on the larger option, what remains after the minimum investment goes toward closing costs.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Aurora, CO cover the same minimum investment and differ in what the buyer owes afterward.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
Two-borrower files can qualify on a blended score on the second-lien options when the higher earner has the higher score and an automated approval is in hand; every borrower still needs a score of their own.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
An Aurora buyer who has owned before is eligible; the second-lien options carry no income limit and no first-time-buyer rule, and the nothing-to-repay option opens on any one of four categories.
The calculator below runs this math on a price you enter. Choose an assistance option offered in Colorado and add any cash of your own; it sizes the minimum investment, the assistance, what is left for closing costs, the FHA loan with its mortgage insurance, and the payment at an editable market benchmark rate.
Where Aurora’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
The share of Aurora, CO households that rent, the median home value, and the median household income together sketch the gap the assistance closes for a first purchase.
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. In most markets, the renter households are the pool the program exists for: qualified for a payment close to their rent, short the cash to close; the assistance is the bridge from one to the other.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Aurora submarkets, distinct property rules.
Across Aurora’s condominiums, townhomes, and older neighborhoods close to work, the same program produces different closings because prices, property types, and first liens differ block by block.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
In Aurora’s established neighborhoods, a buyer can use the program with a limited or standard renovation loan, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together. About 38% of Aurora’s households rent — roughly 54,627 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
New construction and infill
A newly built Aurora home is eligible; the buyer’s own funds requirement is covered by the assistance, and the builder’s closing date is met once the first lien is approved. The median owner-occupied home value in Aurora runs near $469,100 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
The small multi-unit stock in Aurora is a path to a first home that also earns rent; the assistance pairs with the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit. Median gross rent in Aurora is about $1,835 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Manufactured homes on owned land
In Aurora, a manufactured home on a fee-simple lot pairs with the program; leaseholds do not, and the home’s width decides which option carries it. On a home at Aurora’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $16,400 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Aurora, and the assistance follows the first lien: the building needs FHA approval, or a single-unit approval, before the down payment help can attach to it. Aurora counts a population near 394K within the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area.
Townhomes and attached homes
In Aurora, a townhome in a planned development pairs cleanly with the program; the association’s rules and dues are read alongside the first lien, and the assistance covers the down payment. Median household income in Aurora sits near $88,368 on the latest Census estimate.
Submarket descriptions are general market context; the first lien’s approval, the option’s rules, and full underwriting decide every figure in a file.
Four ways Aurora buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Aurora buyers put the program to work depends on the first lien, the property, and what the help needs to cover; these four paths cover most files.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
For a first purchase in Aurora, the assistance closes the down payment gap; the option is chosen by credit, first lien, and eligibility category.
Buy a two-to-four-unit home and live in one unit
For an Aurora buyer choosing a small multi-unit home, the assistance attaches to the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
The refinance-cost option in Aurora, CO is for an existing FHA loan, not a streamline, and not a loan that already carries assistance; it is sized on the lesser of balance or value.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older Aurora home, the renovation first lien and the assistance fit together, with the assistance measured on the price rather than the repaired value.
Size the assistance on an Aurora price before requesting a quote.
Enter an Aurora purchase price, choose an assistance option offered in Colorado, and add any cash of your own. The calculator sizes the FHA minimum investment, applies the assistance to the down payment and closing costs, builds the FHA loan with its upfront and monthly mortgage insurance, and estimates the payment at an editable market benchmark rate — with housing and total ratios when you enter income.
Aurora FHA payment with assistance
An Aurora scenario to start from — adjust the price, the option, your own cash, the term, and the rate to see the assistance and the payment.
Editable benchmark: 6.71% as of September 3, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an FHA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $470,000 price near Aurora’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), the strongest assistance option offered in Colorado applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Colorado (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not an FHA loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. FHA mortgage insurance follows HUD’s published schedule for the term, leverage and loan size entered; taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included; a repayable second lien adds its own payment, which is not shown here. Consumer mortgage lending licensed in sixteen states. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
Same buyer, four very different closings.
Same Aurora buyer, four closings: assistance on an FHA loan, the buyer’s own minimum investment, assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan, or a gift from family.
Assistance on a government loan, saving the minimum, or a gift.
The structure for an Aurora buyer who qualifies for the payment but not the cash to close — the help is sized on the price and the option decides what, if anything, is owed afterward.
For an Aurora, CO buyer with the cash in hand, the plain FHA purchase is the cleaner file; the assistance exists for the buyer who does not have it yet. For the first lien itself, see Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
On a USDA or HUD-184 first lien, the assistance shifts to the second-lien options and to the closing costs; the nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA. For the USDA first lien, see the USDA loan program.
If the payment fits but the cash to close does not, down payment assistance is the structure; if the cash is there, the plain purchase; if the property is USDA-eligible, the USDA first lien with assistance for costs.
What to prepare for an Aurora scenario review.
The documents a lender reads first on an assistance file.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the mortgage, the assistance option, the property, and the eligibility category. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
Beyond the credit tier and the first lien, a handful of details decide which option an Aurora buyer can use — or whether the assistance attaches at all.
Use these checks to keep the Aurora file clean and fundable.
Settle the option, the first lien, the property’s eligibility, and the category before the appraisal is ordered; an Aurora file that clears these reads cleanly.
- Know the option: read the second lien as the loan it is.
- Confirm the category: remember that the second-lien options carry no income limit.
- Do not stack: choose one assistance program.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways in Aurora, CO, and the difference is entirely in what happens after closing: nothing, nothing if the first lien stays current, or a second loan that comes due; the options table shows what is offered.
The eligibility category for the nothing-to-repay option
The category is checked at application on the nothing-to-repay option, together with the signed assistance application and the education certificate; no option requires a first-time buyer, and the second-lien options carry no income limit.
No stacking with other assistance
No option may be combined with another down payment assistance program, and the nothing-to-repay option does not combine with a high-balance first lien; one assistance option, one first lien, one closing.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
An Aurora buyer near the county loan limit should settle the first lien’s size first; a high-balance first lien narrows the options to the repayable ones, and the choice of USDA or HUD-184 narrows them further.
Homebuyer education on the nothing-to-repay option
Homebuyer education is required on one option and useful on all of them; the course covers the budget, the closing, and the responsibilities that come with the first lien, and it is worth an evening.
From an Aurora pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs an Aurora assistance file in a set order: pick the option, match the first lien, clear the property, close both liens together.
Pick the option
The first step is the option: which ones the credit opens, which the first lien allows, and which costs the least to carry for an Aurora, CO buyer — settled before anything is ordered.
Get the mortgage approved
The FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 first lien runs through automated underwriting, with the assistance attached as its own loan where a second lien applies; an Aurora buyer’s income, credit, and reserves are read the way the first lien requires.
Clear the property
The appraisal, the condominium approval where one applies, the manufactured-home title, and the county loan limit are settled; small repairs go into an escrow holdback where the option allows it.
Close both loans together
Final underwriting reads the whole Aurora, CO file against the first lien’s rules and the option’s; the loan funds with the assistance in place and the second lien, where there is one, recorded behind it.
A brokerage that pairs the assistance to the loan.
Pairing the right assistance to the right first lien for an Aurora buyer means knowing which option the credit opens, which the property allows, and what each costs to carry — before the contract is signed.
The option, matched to the buyer
Lendmire reads the options offered in Colorado against an Aurora buyer’s credit, first lien, property, and category before anything is ordered, and names the fit by cost to carry.
The mortgage, matched to the property
An Aurora file is matched to the first-lien program that carries the property — FHA everywhere, USDA or HUD-184 where they fit — and the assistance option follows that choice.
The right wholesale program
An Aurora file is matched to the wholesale program whose option fits the buyer, and Lendmire manages the first lien and the assistance together through closing.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Aurora down payment assistance FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Aurora buyers ask most about down payment assistance, before you request a review. Every file is underwritten individually; nothing here is a commitment.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
Not for any option. First-time status is one path into the nothing-to-repay option, not a requirement of the program.
Is there an income limit?
An Aurora buyer above the area income limit still reaches the nothing-to-repay option through an occupation, a first purchase, or the tract, and reaches the second-lien options regardless of income.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Aurora?
Four shapes paired with a government first lien: a nothing-to-repay option released at closing; forgivable second liens with no interest and no payment, released after an on-time payment period; a repayable second lien with a balloon that also reaches closing costs and prepaids; and a refinance-cost option for an existing FHA loan. The options table on this page shows what is offered in Colorado.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
A nothing-to-repay option is released at closing with no lien and no payment. The forgivable second liens also cost nothing — no interest, no payment — as long as the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period, and they pair with USDA and HUD-184 first liens as well as FHA.
What credit score do I need?
An Aurora buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Colorado.
Which mortgages can the assistance be used with?
Government first liens only: FHA for every option, USDA and HUD-184 for the second-lien options.
What does Lendmire do on an Aurora first-time home buyer file?
Reads the options offered in Colorado against the credit, the first lien, the property, and the category; chooses the wholesale program that carries the fit; packages the first lien and the assistance together; and manages both liens through closing. Lendmire is the broker, never the lender, and is not affiliated with FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
The options do not stack with each other or with local, state, or employer programs; an Aurora buyer eligible for more than one chooses the one that fits best.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
The repayable options reach closing costs; the others stop at the down payment. An Aurora buyer short on both uses the larger option.
Is there an option for refinancing?
Yes, a refinance-cost option: a repayable second lien sized as a share of the balance on an existing FHA loan, covering closing costs and keeping the first lien inside FHA leverage limits. It is not a streamline, and it cannot refinance a loan that already carries assistance.
Place your Aurora purchase on the right option today.
Start with the price, the first lien you expect, and your credit tier. No credit pull or commitment is required to request an initial scenario review.
This guide covers Aurora — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Colorado, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Colorado: Parker · Longmont · Fort Collins · Breckenridge · FHA Loans · USDA Loans