Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the West Lafayette, IN figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
Of the purchase price
Measured on the purchase price or the appraised value, whichever is lower; the largest option covers the down payment and reaches closing costs, and the smaller options cover the 3.5% FHA minimum.
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
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.
Down payment assistance options are consumer mortgage programs arranged through select wholesale lenders, licensed in sixteen states, paired with FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 first liens. Assistance is stated as a percentage of price or value, never as a dollar figure a specific borrower would receive; the forgivable and repayable options are second liens with their own disclosures. Eligibility depends on the first lien’s approval, the option’s rules, the property, and full underwriting, subject to lender program eligibility. The calculator’s rate is an editable market benchmark, not a quote, and its payment is an illustrative estimate; no fee or lender identity appears on this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker and never the lender, and is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, VA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
For West Lafayette, IN 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 Indiana.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
In West Lafayette, 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
The assistance comes as a grant where it is offered, as a forgivable second lien, or as a repayable second lien; each pairs with the first lien differently, and the options table on this page shows what is offered in Indiana.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
Credit decides which options are open; the first lien decides which options attach; the property’s unit count and type decide which option carries it. The options table shows all three side by side.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
A West Lafayette 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.
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 West Lafayette’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
These West Lafayette, IN 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.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Value and income rarely move at the same pace; the market figures below show how far West Lafayette’s prices have moved against its incomes, and the calculator shows what that means for the minimum investment.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct West Lafayette submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in West Lafayette reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a West Lafayette 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 West Lafayette is about $1,225 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in West 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 71% of West Lafayette’s households rent — roughly 10,638 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in West Lafayette 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. The median owner-occupied home value in West Lafayette runs near $350,000 on the latest Census estimate.
Condominiums close to work
In West Lafayette, a condominium near the job is the first home many buyers can reach; the program pairs with it as long as the project clears FHA review, and the assistance covers the minimum investment the same way it would on a house. West Lafayette counts a population near 45K within the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN area.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For West 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 West Lafayette’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $12,200 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in West 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 West Lafayette sits near $34,891 on the latest Census estimate.
Read the submarkets as orientation. The file’s figures come from the first lien, the option, and the program’s rules.
Four ways West Lafayette buyers put down payment assistance to work.
From a first home to a small multi-unit building to an FHA refinance, down payment assistance in West Lafayette, IN solves a specific set of problems.
Buy a two-to-four-unit home and live in one unit
House-hacking in West Lafayette, 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.
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 West Lafayette, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older West Lafayette home, the renovation first lien and the assistance fit together, with the assistance measured on the price rather than the repaired value.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
A West Lafayette buyer who needs more than the minimum investment uses the repayable option that covers down payment, closing costs, and prepaid items, including costs paid outside closing.
Size the assistance on a West Lafayette price before requesting a quote.
This tool applies the program to a West Lafayette scenario: the price sets the minimum investment, the option and your cash set the down payment, and the FHA loan, mortgage insurance, and payment follow at the benchmark rate shown. Every field is editable; the rate is a market reference, not a quote.
West Lafayette FHA payment with assistance
Illustrative West Lafayette 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 $350,000 price near West Lafayette’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), 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, four very different closings.
The right structure for a West Lafayette, IN 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 West Lafayette 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 and repayable options, which then cover closing costs and prepaids rather than a down payment the first lien does not require. 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 West Lafayette scenario review.
What a down payment assistance review usually starts with.
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.
Every West Lafayette file is underwritten individually, but the same handful of considerations recur; they are worth settling before the contract is signed.
Use these checks to keep the West Lafayette file clean and fundable.
A clean West 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: confirm the option is offered in the state.
- Confirm the category: remember that the second-lien options carry no income limit.
- Plan for the balloon: treat the tenth-year balloon as a planning date.
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; a nothing-to-repay option released at closing where it 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.
The balloon on the repayable option
The repayable second lien amortizes over thirty years but comes due in the tenth year; it carries interest and a monthly payment, its own loan number, and a balloon disclosure. It is the option that reaches closing costs, and it is a loan.
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
The nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA first liens, including the repair-escrow and renovation programs; the second-lien options pair with FHA, USDA, and HUD-184, and above the county loan limit only the repayable options carry the assistance.
From a West Lafayette pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a West Lafayette 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 a West Lafayette, IN buyer — settled before anything is ordered.
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 West 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 West 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.
Lendmire built its consumer practice around the buyers these programs exist for, which is why the options, the categories, and the property rules are familiar ground rather than surprises.
The option, matched to the buyer
Lendmire reads the options offered in Indiana against a West 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
A West Lafayette 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 West 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.
West Lafayette down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a West Lafayette, IN buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No option requires it. A West Lafayette buyer who has owned before qualifies for the second-lien options on credit, first lien, and property alone, and for the nothing-to-repay option through any of the other categories.
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 limit, measured where the property sits. The forgivable and repayable second-lien options carry no income limit beyond the first lien’s own rules.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in West Lafayette?
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?
Two of the shapes: the nothing-to-repay option where it is offered, and the forgivable second liens, which are released after the on-time payment period. The repayable option is a loan.
What credit score do I need?
It depends on the option. The lowest floor belongs to the nothing-to-repay option; the second-lien options start higher, and the first lien’s own rules apply on top.
What is the rate on the mortgage and on the assistance?
It depends on the first lien, the option, and the file; the rate shown in the calculator is an editable market benchmark, not a quote, and the payment it produces is an illustrative estimate. A scenario review produces the terms.
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.
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.
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 if my mortgage is above the county loan limit?
Only the repayable options pair with a high-balance first lien; the nothing-to-repay and forgivable options stop at the lesser of the conforming limit or the county limit.
Ready to size the assistance on a West Lafayette home? Start with the price.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your West Lafayette purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers West Lafayette — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Indiana, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Indiana: Evansville · Muncie · Fort Wayne · Jeffersonville · FHA Loans · USDA Loans