Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the French Lick, IN figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
Of the purchase price
Up to this share of the price can come from assistance: the largest option reaches closing costs as well as the down payment, while the smaller options cover the 3.5% FHA minimum, in whole or, on the lowest tier, in part.
Covers the FHA down payment, in whole or in part
Nothing to repay, ever: this option pays the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment in whole or, on its lower tier, in part, 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 Indiana · no option requires a first-time buyer · no option combines with another assistance program · owner-occupied primary residences only.
This page describes down payment assistance at the program level. The option for any file comes from the credit tier, the first lien, the property, and the eligibility category; the first lien’s approval, the appraisal, and full underwriting decide the actual terms, subject to lender program eligibility. Nothing here is a quote, a fee, or a commitment to lend; the calculator’s rate is a market benchmark you can edit and its payment an estimate. Lendmire is never the lender and is not affiliated with FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government. Lendmire, LLC — NMLS #2371349. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
First-time home buyer programs are not one program; they are a family of down payment assistance options paired with a government-backed first lien, and the right one for a French Lick, IN buyer depends on credit, the first lien, the property, and whether the help needs to reach closing costs.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s down payment assistance program, or the statewide guide at Down Payment Assistance in Indiana.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
In French Lick, IN, 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 French Lick, IN cover the same minimum investment and differ in what the buyer owes afterward, and a fourth, the refinance-cost option, serves an existing FHA loan.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
A French Lick file is placed by three things — the credit tier, the first-lien program, and the property — and the options table on this page shows the floor, the first liens, and the unit limit for every option offered in Indiana.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
In French Lick, IN, 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.
Enter a price, choose an option, and add your own cash. The calculator sizes the minimum investment, splits the assistance between the down payment and closing costs, and estimates the FHA payment with mortgage insurance, taxes, insurance, and dues.
Where French Lick’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Market data for French Lick, IN frame the question every assistance file answers: at this price, how large is the minimum investment, and which option covers it?
Read the figures as backdrop. 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 French Lick submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in French Lick reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
Townhome and PUD communities
In French Lick’s planned communities, the assistance works the same way as on a detached home, with the association package read alongside the file. Median household income in French Lick sits near $54,519 on the latest Census estimate.
USDA-eligible edges
Where a property near French Lick is USDA-eligible, the USDA first lien and the second-lien options fit together, keeping cash to close near zero. Median gross rent in French Lick is about $828 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Workforce condominiums
In French Lick, a condominium that clears FHA project review pairs with the assistance; a building run like a hotel does not. On a home at French Lick’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $3,000 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
County-limit homes
In French Lick, the county loan limit decides which option can attach to a larger first lien; the repayable options continue above it. About 34% of French Lick’s households rent — roughly 297 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For French Lick buyers choosing manufactured housing, the assistance is available on owned land, with the option set by the home’s width. The median owner-occupied home value in French Lick runs near $85,100 on the latest Census estimate.
Year-round neighborhoods
In a visitor economy like French Lick’s, the program serves the people who staff it: a primary residence in a year-round neighborhood, the minimum investment covered. French Lick itself counts a population near 1.8K.
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 French Lick buyers put down payment assistance to work.
Down payment assistance in French Lick, IN is used for more than a first purchase; these are the structures French Lick buyers ask about most.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
A French Lick buyer with the income for the payment but not the cash to close uses the assistance to cover the FHA minimum investment, a grant with nothing to repay, and keeps savings for the move.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
A French Lick homeowner refinancing an existing FHA loan can use the refinance-cost option, a repayable second lien sized on the balance, to cover closing costs and keep the first lien inside FHA limits.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older French Lick home, the renovation first lien and the assistance fit together, with the assistance measured on the purchase price rather than the repaired value.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
House-hacking in French Lick, IN pairs with the program when the buyer occupies a unit; the unit count decides which option applies, and the first lien carries the building.
Size the assistance on a French Lick price before requesting a quote.
Enter a French Lick purchase price, choose an assistance option offered in Indiana, 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.
French Lick FHA payment with assistance
Illustrative French Lick inputs; the calculator recalculates on every change.
Editable benchmark: 7.28% as of October 1, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an FHA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $150,000 price near French Lick’s median owner-occupied home value, the strongest assistance option offered in Indiana applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Indiana (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, three very different closings.
A French Lick, IN buyer can reach the closing table several ways; the difference is where the minimum investment comes from and what it costs to carry afterward.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
The structure for a French Lick 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.
USDA and HUD-184 first liens pair with the forgivable options and the ten-year repayable option on a French Lick, IN file; the separate closing-cost option is FHA only. For the USDA first lien, see the USDA loan program.
Choose by what you have: cash for the minimum investment, family who can gift it, a USDA-eligible property, or none of those — the assistance is for the last case, and the most common one.
What to prepare for a French Lick scenario review.
A typical starting file for a first purchase with assistance.
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.
These are the points a lender reads on a French Lick assistance file before the option is confirmed; each one can move the structure.
Use these checks to keep the French Lick file clean and fundable.
Settle the option, the first lien, the property’s eligibility, and the category before the appraisal is ordered; a French Lick file that clears these reads cleanly.
- Know the option: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Confirm the category: identify the category that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
- Do not stack: expect no combination with other assistance.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways on a purchase in French Lick, IN, 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 nothing-to-repay option opens on any one of four categories — household income at or below the area limit, a community-service occupation, a first purchase, or a property in an underserved census tract — plus a homebuyer education course; the second-lien options need none of these.
No stacking with other assistance
No option may be combined with another down payment assistance program in French Lick, IN, and the nothing-to-repay and forgivable options do not combine with a high-balance first lien; one assistance option, one first lien, one closing.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
For a French Lick, IN buyer, the forgivable options cost nothing to carry as long as the first lien stays current through the period; they are not resubordinated, not assumed, and no additional lien can be added behind them.
Homebuyer education on the nothing-to-repay option
The nothing-to-repay option requires a HUD-approved homebuyer education or pre-purchase counseling course, online or in person; the buyer pays for it up front and the cost is credited back at closing. The second-lien options do not require it.
From a French Lick pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The process for a French Lick, IN purchase with assistance is deliberate, because the details around the assistance are what stall closings.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the French Lick scenario against the options offered in Indiana: the credit tier, the first lien, the unit count, the category, and whether the help must reach closing costs.
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 property side of a French Lick, IN file is where the option can change: unit count, project approval, and the loan limit are confirmed before the closing is scheduled.
Close both loans together
The French Lick closing carries both instruments: the first lien and the assistance, each documented on its own and closed together, with the education certificate in the file where it applies.
A brokerage that pairs the assistance to the loan.
Down payment assistance is where a generalist stumbles: the options differ by first lien, by credit tier, by unit count, and by state, and the wholesale programs that carry them competently are a short list.
The option, matched to the buyer
A French Lick scenario is placed on the right option first — the credit tier, the first lien, and the category — and the rest of the file is then built to fit it, before anything is ordered.
The mortgage, matched to the property
A French Lick 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
A French Lick 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.
French Lick down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a French Lick, IN buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No option requires it. A French Lick buyer who has owned before qualifies for the second-lien options on credit, mortgage, and property alone, and for the nothing-to-repay option through any of the other categories.
Is there an income limit?
A French Lick 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 French Lick?
Four shapes paired with a government mortgage: 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 Indiana.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
It depends on the shape you choose. Grant-style help is released at closing and never repaid; a forgivable second lien is forgiven after the on-time period; a repayable second lien is a real second loan with a balloon. A French Lick buyer chooses by what they want to carry after closing.
What credit score do I need?
Scores in the low six hundreds open the first option, and each step up in score opens more of them. The mortgage program has its own rules too, so the credit score, the mortgage, and the property are read together before the option is named.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
On the nothing-to-repay option, yes — a HUD-approved course, online or in person, with the cost credited back at closing. The second-lien options do not require it, though the course is worth taking on any first purchase.
Can I buy a duplex or a fourplex with assistance?
Two units on the second-lien options, up to four on the nothing-to-repay option, always with the buyer living in one of them.
What property types are eligible?
Single-family homes, FHA-approved condominiums, townhomes and planned developments, owner-occupied two-to-four-unit homes within each option’s limit, and manufactured homes on owned land — single-width on the nothing-to-repay option, double-width on the second-lien options. Unique property types are outside the second-lien options.
What is the repayable option and when does it make sense?
It is a loan — the repayable options are the only purchase options with a payment — in exchange for covering the most. A French Lick buyer chooses it for the closing-cost coverage or the high-balance pairing.
Which mortgages can the assistance be used with?
The nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA; the forgivable and repayable second liens pair with FHA, USDA, and HUD-184, the closing-cost repayable option with FHA only. The property and the buyer decide which first lien fits.
From a pre-approval to keys — with the assistance in place.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your French Lick purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers French Lick — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Indiana, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Indiana: Bloomington · Nashville · Jeffersonville · Columbus · Evansville · Terre Haute · Greenwood · Indianapolis
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans