Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
These figures are read from Lendmire’s centralized down payment assistance standards source and update automatically when the programs change. Every state and city guide in this series reads the same source.
Of the purchase price
The largest option is a repayable second lien that covers your down payment and can reach closing costs and prepaids too; the smaller options cover the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment, 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.
Program figures are refreshed from one guideline source and change when it changes. The nothing-to-repay option is not offered in every state; the forgivable and repayable options are second liens; no option combines with another assistance program; all are for owner-occupied primary residences. The rate in the calculator is an editable market benchmark, not a quote, and the payment shown is an illustrative estimate; no fee or lender identity appears on this page. Lendmire is the broker, not 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 Lafayette, 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
The gap the program closes for a Lafayette buyer is the minimum investment: the assistance covers that share of the price, the first lien carries the rest, and the buyer’s own savings stay for the move.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Lafayette, 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 Lafayette 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
Eligibility is broader than most buyers expect: repeat buyers qualify, income limits apply only to the nothing-to-repay option, and the categories that open it include first responders, educators, medical personnel, civil servants, and military.
The calculator below runs this math on a price you enter. Choose an assistance option offered in Indiana 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 Lafayette’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census estimates give the backdrop for a down payment assistance file: where Lafayette, IN’s renters live, what a median home costs, and what a median household earns.
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 Lafayette submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in Lafayette reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Lafayette 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 Lafayette sits near $53,716 on the latest Census estimate.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Lafayette buyers looking at manufactured housing, the assistance is available on owned land, with single-width homes reaching only the option that accepts them. On a home at Lafayette’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $6,000 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Lafayette, 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 Lafayette runs near $172,800 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in Lafayette pair with the assistance as long as the property is the buyer’s primary residence and the first lien is a government program. About 53% of Lafayette’s households rent — roughly 17,191 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Lafayette duplex can use the program on the whole building; the nothing-to-repay option, which reaches four units, makes a house-hacking purchase reachable with the minimum investment covered. Lafayette itself counts a population near 71K.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
In Lafayette’s established neighborhoods, a buyer can use the program with a limited renovation loan or, on the nothing-to-repay option, a standard one, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together. Median gross rent in Lafayette is about $1,079 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
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 Lafayette buyers put down payment assistance to work.
The same assistance serves several purposes in Lafayette, IN; four of the most common are below.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older Lafayette home, the renovation first lien and the assistance fit together, with the assistance measured on the purchase price rather than the repaired value.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
The larger option exists for the Lafayette, IN closing where the down payment is only half the problem: it carries the minimum investment and a further share for costs.
Pair the assistance with a USDA or HUD-184 mortgage
Where the first lien is USDA or HUD-184, the second-lien assistance options carry the file in Lafayette, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit profile.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
The most common Lafayette, IN 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 Lafayette price before requesting a quote.
Run a Lafayette 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.
Lafayette FHA payment with assistance
Seeded from Lafayette’s home values; every field is editable, and the estimate updates as you change the price, the option, your cash, or the rate.
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 $175,000 price near Lafayette’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.
Down payment assistance is one of the ways a Lafayette buyer covers the minimum investment; each has a different cost after closing.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
Assistance that closes with the first lien: it covers the minimum investment; its shape is chosen by the credit tier and the first lien, with the eligibility category where the nothing-to-repay option is in play, and the second-lien options stay open to repeat buyers with no income limit.
The buyer brings the minimum investment from savings, a retirement withdrawal, or seasoned funds; no second lien, no eligibility category, no homebuyer education requirement, and no assistance to carry. 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 forgivable options and the ten-year repayable option carry the Lafayette file; the separate closing-cost option is FHA only. For the USDA first lien, see the USDA loan program.
Assistance fits the buyer short of cash to close; the plain purchase fits the buyer with savings; the USDA and HUD-184 pairing fits eligible properties and borrowers — Lendmire places the Lafayette, IN file where it reads best.
What to prepare for a Lafayette 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.
A down payment assistance file in Lafayette, IN is won or lost on details a plain purchase never meets: the eligibility category, the forgiveness clock, the balloon on the repayable option, the county loan limit, the property type.
Use these checks to keep the Lafayette file clean and fundable.
A clean Lafayette file starts with the option chosen, the first lien matched to the property, and the homebuyer education course completed where it is required.
- Know the option: read the second lien as the loan it is.
- Confirm the category: settle which category applies before the application is signed.
- Consider a blended score: every borrower needs a score of their own.
The option decides what you owe afterward
Choose the shape before the amount: the forgivable options cover the minimum investment and cost nothing to carry when the first lien stays current; the repayable option covers more and is repaid; where it is offered, a nothing-to-repay option released at closing costs nothing at all.
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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
On the second-lien options, two occupying borrowers can qualify on the average of their representative scores when the higher earner has the higher score; the loan must carry an automated approval, and every borrower still needs a score.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
In Lafayette, IN, 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.
Property type and unit count select the option
The property itself can move a Lafayette, IN 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.
From a Lafayette pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a Lafayette assistance file in a set order: pick the option, match the first lien, clear the property, close with the assistance in place.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the Lafayette 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 Lafayette, 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
Final underwriting reads the whole Lafayette, IN 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.
An assistance file rewards preparation, and preparation is what a brokerage built for first-time and moderate-income buyers provides.
The option, matched to the buyer
Lendmire reads the options offered in Indiana against a Lafayette 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
FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 is chosen with the Lafayette 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
A Lafayette 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.
Lafayette down payment assistance FAQs
Straight answers for Lafayette 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?
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?
Only on the nothing-to-repay option, and only when no other category applies: household income at or below the area-median-income ceiling in the snapshot, measured where the property sits. The forgivable and repayable second-lien options carry no income limit beyond the mortgage’s own rules.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Lafayette?
A Lafayette buyer can cover the FHA minimum investment through a nothing-to-repay option where offered, a forgivable second lien, or a repayable second lien that reaches closing costs; the calculator on this page sizes each one on a price you enter.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
Where the nothing-to-repay option is offered, nothing at all — no lien, no payment, no interest. The forgivable second liens are also free to carry: no payment and no interest, and they disappear once you have made the on-time mortgage payments the program asks for. Only the repayable option comes with a payment.
What credit score do I need?
A Lafayette buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Indiana.
What if my mortgage is above the county loan limit?
A high-balance first lien narrows the choice to the repayable options in Lafayette, IN.
Is there an option for refinancing?
The refinance-cost option covers the costs of an FHA refinance with a repayable second lien, at its own credit floor and combined-leverage limit.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
Only the nothing-to-repay option requires it; the certificate is part of that file.
What is the rate on the mortgage and on the assistance?
The first lien’s rate is set by the lender at lock; the calculator on this page seeds its rate field from the weekly Freddie Mac conventional benchmark as a market reference, not an FHA quote, and every field stays editable. The repayable second lien’s terms are set by the program and disclosed on its own documents; the forgivable and nothing-to-repay options carry no interest.
How does a forgivable second lien work — the small second loan behind the mortgage?
It is a lien that costs nothing to carry and disappears on schedule; the clock runs with the first lien’s payments.
Place your Lafayette purchase on the right option today.
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 Lafayette — 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: West Lafayette · Kokomo · Westfield · Carmel · Noblesville · Fishers · Indianapolis · Lawrence
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans