Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Boca Raton, FL 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
This covers the entire 3.5% FHA minimum down payment and is forgiven at closing: no lien on the home, no monthly payment, no interest. It opens on the area income limit or on a qualifying category.
On the forgivable and repayable options
Most of the options carry no income limit, so a higher-earning household qualifies the same as anyone else; only the nothing-to-repay option looks at income, at 140% of the area median, or at a qualifying category.
Credit score to start
This is the lowest score that opens an option here — the nothing-to-repay option; the forgivable second liens start a little higher and the repayable options higher still, so a stronger score opens more choices.
| 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 Florida · 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.
For Boca Raton, FL buyers, the first-time home buyer programs work the same way: the first lien carries most of the price, the assistance covers the minimum investment, and the shape of the assistance — nothing to repay, forgivable, or repayable — decides what it costs to carry.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s down payment assistance program, or the statewide guide at Down Payment Assistance in Florida.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
Every option is sized on the price, not on a fixed sum: the smaller options cover the minimum investment, the larger repayable option covers it and reaches closing costs and prepaid items too.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Boca Raton, FL 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
In Boca Raton, FL, the question is not whether this is a first home; it is which option fits the credit, the first lien, and the property — and, for the nothing-to-repay option, which qualifying category applies.
The calculator below runs this math on a price you enter. Choose an assistance option offered in Florida 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 Boca Raton’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
These Boca Raton, FL figures describe the market, not a borrower; the first lien’s approval and the option’s rules carry the file, and the numbers here only explain the neighborhood it sits in.
Market context only. A large renter share signals demand for the program; a moderate median value signals that the minimum investment is within the assistance’s reach; the two together describe where the program closes most files.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Boca Raton submarkets, distinct property rules.
Across Boca Raton’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.
Manufactured homes on owned land
Manufactured housing on owned land near Boca Raton is eligible, with the option decided by the home’s width: the nothing-to-repay option accepts single-width homes, while the second-lien options accept double-width only. Boca Raton counts a population near 100K within the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL area.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Boca Raton sit at price points where the minimum investment is smaller in dollars but no easier to save; the assistance closes that gap, and the association’s documents are reviewed with the file. Median household income in Boca Raton sits near $106,273 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Boca Raton duplex or triplex can use the program on the whole building; the option that allows up to four units makes a house-hacking purchase reachable with the minimum investment covered. Median gross rent in Boca Raton is about $2,508 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
New construction and infill
A newly built Boca Raton 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. On a home at Boca Raton’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $25,300 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Boca Raton, 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Boca Raton runs near $722,700 on the latest Census estimate.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in Boca Raton qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, which lets a buyer take on a home that needs work without also finding the minimum investment. About 34% of Boca Raton’s households rent — roughly 14,200 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Read the submarkets as orientation. The file’s figures come from the first lien, the option, and the program’s rules.
Four ways Boca Raton buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Boca Raton 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.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
The larger option exists for the Boca Raton, FL closing where the down payment is only half the problem: it carries the minimum investment and a further share for costs.
Buy a two-to-four-unit home and live in one unit
For a Boca Raton buyer choosing a small multi-unit home, the assistance attaches to the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in Boca Raton, FL qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
The most common Boca Raton, FL file: an FHA first lien, the assistance covering the minimum investment, and the buyer’s own funds reserved for moving costs and reserves.
Size the assistance on a Boca Raton price before requesting a quote.
Run a Boca Raton price through the options before you request a quote: the minimum investment, the assistance applied, what is left for closing costs, the mortgage insurance tier, and the estimated payment. Enter income to see the ratios a lender reads.
Boca Raton FHA payment with assistance
Illustrative Boca Raton inputs; the calculator recalculates on every change.
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 $600,000 price near Boca Raton’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), the strongest assistance option offered in Florida applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Florida (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.
The right structure for a Boca Raton, FL buyer depends on savings, credit, the first lien, and whether the help needs to reach closing costs.
Assistance on a government loan, saving the minimum, or a gift.
The structure for a Boca Raton 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.
Paying the minimum investment yourself keeps the closing simplest — no second lien, no category, no course; the trade is the months or years of saving that the assistance replaces. For the first lien itself, see Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
Where the property is USDA-eligible or the buyer qualifies for HUD-184, the second-lien options carry the Boca Raton file, and the closing costs are what the assistance covers. 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 a Boca Raton 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 a Boca Raton buyer can use — or whether the assistance attaches at all.
Use these checks to keep the Boca Raton file clean and fundable.
Settle the option, the first lien, the property’s eligibility, and the category before the appraisal is ordered; a Boca Raton file that clears these reads cleanly.
- Know the option: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Confirm the category: complete the homebuyer education course where required.
- Confirm the property: confirm the property will be the primary residence.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways in Boca Raton, FL, 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.
Property type and unit count select the option
The property itself can move a Boca Raton, FL file: a fourplex, a single-width manufactured home, or an unapproved condominium project each changes which option can attach, so the address is read before the option is promised.
The balloon on the repayable option
The repayable option is the only purchase option that carries a payment; in exchange it covers the most and pairs with a high-balance first lien. Its terms are set by the program, never by this page.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
In Boca Raton, FL, the first-lien program is chosen with the property: USDA where the address is eligible, HUD-184 where the buyer qualifies, FHA everywhere. The county loan limit then decides whether a larger first lien can still carry an assistance option.
From a Boca Raton pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a Boca Raton assistance file in a set order: pick the option, match the first lien, clear the property, close both liens together.
Pick the option
Every Boca Raton file starts with the option and the first lien; the category, the education course, and the property rules are then settled around them, in that order.
Get the mortgage approved
The first lien’s approval carries the file; the assistance is arranged alongside it, with the eligibility category and the education certificate in hand where they apply.
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 Boca Raton, FL 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 a Boca Raton 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
The nothing-to-repay option where it fits, the forgivable options where it does not, the repayable option where closing costs are the hurdle — chosen for the Boca Raton, FL buyer, not by default.
The mortgage, matched to the property
FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 is chosen with the Boca Raton property — its address, its unit count, its type — so the assistance option that pairs with it is the one that attaches.
The right wholesale program
Assistance programs differ across wholesale lenders in what they offer and where; Lendmire places a Boca Raton, FL file where its credit, its first lien, and its property read best, subject to lender program eligibility.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Boca Raton down payment assistance FAQs
Straight answers for Boca Raton buyers weighing down payment assistance; the mortgage approval and the option’s rules decide every actual figure.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No. None of the options requires a first-time buyer. Being a first-time buyer is one of four categories that opens the nothing-to-repay option; the second-lien options have no first-time-buyer rule and no income limit at all.
Is there an income limit?
A Boca Raton 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 Boca Raton?
Assistance measured as a percentage of the price, in shapes that differ by what you owe afterward: nothing, nothing if the first lien stays current, or a second loan with a balloon. Credit, the first lien, the property, and the eligibility category decide which fits.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
For a Boca Raton buyer, the nothing-to-repay option where offered, otherwise a forgivable second lien; the options table on this page shows what each costs to carry.
What credit score do I need?
Each option has its own floor, starting in the low six hundreds on the nothing-to-repay option and stepping up on the forgivable and repayable second liens; every borrower needs a score, and two-borrower files may qualify on a blended score on the second-lien options. The snapshot shows the floors in force.
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.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
Required on one option, optional on the rest; schedule it early if the nothing-to-repay option is the plan.
What property types are eligible?
Most primary-residence property types, with the condominium’s approval, the manufactured home’s width and title, and the unit count deciding which option attaches.
Is there an option for refinancing?
For an existing FHA loan, yes — a repayable option sized on the balance, for a full refinance rather than a streamline.
What does Lendmire do on a Boca Raton first-time home buyer file?
The structural work: option, first lien, property, category, education, disclosures, closing. A Boca Raton buyer brings the contract; Lendmire brings the fit.
Bring the price. We will find the option.
Share the property, the price, and a little about your situation; a Lendmire loan officer names the option that fits and follows up.
This guide covers Boca Raton — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Florida, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Florida: Davie · Ocala · The Villages · Marathon · FHA Loans · USDA Loans