Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
The current program figures below are refreshed from Lendmire’s down payment assistance standards source at each visit, so the options shown for Amarillo, TX are the options in force.
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
The FHA minimum down payment is 3.5%, and this option covers it in whole or, on its lower tier, in part with nothing to pay back — no lien, no payment, no interest — for buyers at or below the area income limit or in a qualifying category.
On the forgivable and repayable options
The forgivable and repayable options have no income limit at all — one of the biggest advantages of this program. Only the nothing-to-repay option asks for income at or below 140% of the area median, or 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 Texas · 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 an Amarillo, TX 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 Texas.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
An FHA purchase asks for a minimum investment from the buyer; the assistance covers it, measured as a percentage of the lesser of price or value, and the largest option carries a further share for closing costs and prepaids.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Amarillo, TX 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
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
In Amarillo, TX, 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 Amarillo’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 Amarillo, TX’s renters live, what a median home costs, and what a median household earns.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. The renter share says how many households the program could serve; the median value says how far the minimum investment sits from a typical price; 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 Amarillo submarkets, distinct property rules.
Amarillo’s entry-level stock is not one market. Each submarket below carries its own price points, its own property rules, and its own fit with the assistance options.
Condominiums close to work
In Amarillo, 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. Amarillo itself counts a population near 202K.
Townhomes and attached homes
The townhome rows of Amarillo are where many first purchases happen, and the assistance is designed for exactly that: the minimum investment covered, the closing costs reachable on the larger option. The median owner-occupied home value in Amarillo runs near $196,900 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in Amarillo pair with the assistance as long as the property is the buyer’s primary residence and the first lien is a government program. On a home at Amarillo’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $6,900 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
The older streets of Amarillo are full of homes that need work, and the assistance pairs with a renovation first lien: the assistance is figured on the purchase price, while the loan itself covers price plus repairs. Median gross rent in Amarillo is about $1,092 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
In Amarillo, owner-occupied small multi-unit buildings qualify for assistance when the buyer lives in one of the units, up to four units on a purchase; the unit count decides which option applies. About 40% of Amarillo’s households rent — roughly 32,144 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Manufactured homes on owned land
Manufactured housing on owned land near Amarillo 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. Median household income in Amarillo sits near $65,912 on the latest Census estimate.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop an Amarillo file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Amarillo buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Amarillo 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
The most common Amarillo, TX file: an FHA first lien, the assistance covering the minimum investment, and the buyer’s own funds reserved for moving costs and reserves.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
An Amarillo 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.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
Owners in Amarillo with an FHA loan and little cash for a refinance use the refinance-cost option, subject to its own credit floor and the combined-leverage limit it carries.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
For an Amarillo buyer choosing a small multi-unit home, the assistance attaches to the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit, with the buyer living in one of the units.
Size the assistance on an Amarillo price before requesting a quote.
Enter an Amarillo purchase price, choose an assistance option offered in Texas, 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.
Amarillo FHA payment with assistance
Illustrative Amarillo 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 $195,000 price near Amarillo’s median owner-occupied home value, the strongest assistance option offered in Texas applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Texas (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.
An Amarillo, TX 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 an Amarillo 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 Amarillo, TX 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 in Amarillo, TX the assistance is forgivable or the ten-year repayable kind; 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 an Amarillo 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 Amarillo, TX 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 Amarillo file clean and fundable.
The checks below keep an Amarillo assistance file on track, and each one comes from the option’s own terms rather than from a lender’s preference.
- Know the option: read the second lien as the loan it is.
- Confirm the category: identify the category that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
- Take the course: keep the certificate for the file.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways on a purchase in Amarillo, TX, 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.
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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
Blending is a qualification tool on the second-lien options and nothing more; an Amarillo file that blends still needs each borrower to have a representative score, and manual underwriting is off the table.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
An Amarillo home with a small repair list does not have to wait for the work before closing; the escrow holdback carries it, within the program’s cap and timeline, with an inspection when the work is done.
From an Amarillo pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The process for an Amarillo, TX purchase with assistance is deliberate, because the details around the assistance are what stall closings.
Pick the option
Every Amarillo file starts with the option and the first lien; the category, the homebuyer education course and the property rules are then settled around them, in that order.
Get the mortgage approved
Lendmire packages the Amarillo file for the first lien first, because the assistance follows its approval; the option’s floor and the first lien’s rules both have to clear.
Clear the property
Property review runs in parallel with the first lien; the Amarillo home is checked against the option’s rules and the first lien’s, from the unit count to the association package.
Close both loans together
The Amarillo 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.
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
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 Amarillo, TX buyer, not by default.
The mortgage, matched to the property
An Amarillo 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
Assistance programs differ across wholesale lenders in what they offer and where; Lendmire places an Amarillo, TX file where its credit, its first lien, and its property read best, subject to lender program eligibility.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Amarillo down payment assistance FAQs
Straight answers for Amarillo 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?
For most of the options, no. The forgivable and repayable second liens carry no income limit at all. The nothing-to-repay option is the one that looks at income, and even there a qualifying occupation, a first purchase, or an underserved census tract opens it as an alternative to the income test.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Amarillo?
An Amarillo 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?
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. An Amarillo buyer chooses by what they want to carry after closing.
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 mortgage’s own rules apply on top.
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?
A high-balance first lien narrows the choice to the repayable options in Amarillo, TX.
What is the repayable option and when does it make sense?
A second lien that amortizes over thirty years and comes due in the tenth year, with interest, a monthly payment, and its own disclosures. It makes sense when the help needs to reach closing costs and prepaids or when the first lien is high balance.
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.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
Only the nothing-to-repay option requires it; the certificate is part of that file.
Place your Amarillo 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 Amarillo — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Texas, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Texas: Lubbock · Wichita Falls · Midland · Abilene · Odessa · San Angelo · Denton · Fort Worth
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans