Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
The snapshot below is not typed onto this page — it is pulled from one down payment assistance guideline source and refreshed when that source changes, so Lebanon, TN always shows 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
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
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
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 Tennessee · 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.
For Lebanon, TN buyers, the first-time home buyer programs come down to three parts: 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 Tennessee.
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 Lebanon, TN 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
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.
This is the whole test: the price sets the minimum investment, the option covers it, and the larger option leaves room for closing costs. The tool below applies it to your numbers and adds the FHA payment estimate.
Where Lebanon’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 Lebanon, TN’s renters live, what a median home costs, and what a median household earns.
Market context only. Value and income rarely move at the same pace; the market figures below show what a Lebanon home costs and how many households rent, 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 Lebanon submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in Lebanon reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
Manufactured homes on owned land
Manufactured housing on owned land is common around Lebanon, and the program accepts it: the nothing-to-repay option takes single-width homes, the second-lien options double-width only, and the land must be owned rather than leased. Lebanon itself counts a population near 45K.
USDA-eligible areas
Where a property near Lebanon is USDA-eligible, the no-down-payment first lien pairs with the forgivable or ten-year repayable assistance, which can reach closing costs above the minimum investment. The median owner-occupied home value in Lebanon runs near $378,400 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction
New construction in and around Lebanon works with the program; the appraisal and the builder’s timeline set the pace, and the assistance closes with the first lien. On a home at Lebanon’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $13,200 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Lebanon duplex can use the program on the whole building; the nothing-to-repay option, which reaches four units, makes the purchase reachable with the minimum investment covered. Median gross rent in Lebanon is about $1,306 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Homes that need work
In Lebanon, a buyer can take on a fixer with the assistance attached to a limited renovation loan or, on the nothing-to-repay option, a standard one, so the down payment and the repair budget are settled in one transaction. Median household income in Lebanon sits near $72,848 on the latest Census estimate.
Established neighborhoods
The established neighborhoods of Lebanon carry a long history of government-backed purchases, which is where the assistance fits most naturally: the minimum investment covered on a first home. About 38% of Lebanon’s households rent — roughly 6,506 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 Lebanon buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Lebanon 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 home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older Lebanon 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 first home with the down payment covered
The most common Lebanon, TN file: an FHA first lien, the assistance covering the minimum investment, and the buyer’s own funds reserved for moving costs and reserves.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
House-hacking in Lebanon, TN pairs with the program when the buyer occupies a unit; the unit count decides which option applies, and the first lien carries the building.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
A Lebanon 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 Lebanon price before requesting a quote.
The calculator does what a loan officer’s first pass does for a Lebanon file — sizes the minimum investment, applies the option, builds the FHA loan with mortgage insurance, and estimates the payment — using the current program figures and an editable benchmark rate.
Lebanon FHA payment with assistance
Starting assumptions reflect Lebanon’s home values; change any field and the loan, the mortgage insurance, and the payment are recalculated.
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 $380,000 price near Lebanon’s median owner-occupied home value, the strongest assistance option offered in Tennessee applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Tennessee (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.
Same Lebanon buyer, three closings: assistance on an FHA loan, the buyer’s own minimum investment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
The structure for a Lebanon 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 a Lebanon, TN 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 Lebanon, TN 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 a Lebanon 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.
A down payment assistance file in Lebanon, TN 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 Lebanon file clean and fundable.
A clean Lebanon 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: settle which category applies before the application is signed.
- Take the course: schedule a HUD-approved course early.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways on a purchase in Lebanon, TN, 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.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
A Lebanon 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.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
A forgivable second lien is released after the on-time payment period on the first lien — three years on one option, five on the other — with no interest and no payment in between; a serious delinquency inside the period keeps the lien in place.
From a Lebanon pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a Lebanon 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 Lebanon scenario against the options offered in Tennessee: the credit tier, the first lien, the unit count, the category, and whether the help must reach closing costs.
Get the mortgage approved
The FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 first lien runs through automated underwriting, with the assistance attached as its own loan where a second lien applies; a Lebanon buyer’s income, credit, and reserves are read the way the first lien requires.
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 Lebanon, TN 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 Lebanon 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
Lendmire reads the options offered in Tennessee against a Lebanon 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
USDA where the address is eligible, HUD-184 where the buyer qualifies, FHA everywhere; the Lebanon, TN first lien is the foundation the assistance stands on.
The right wholesale program
A Lebanon 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.
Lebanon down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Lebanon, TN buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
You do not. Every option is open to repeat buyers; the file is placed on the price, the credit score, the mortgage program, and the home — having owned before closes nothing, and a first purchase is only one of the categories that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
Is there an income limit?
The second-lien options have none; the nothing-to-repay option has an area income limit that a qualifying occupation, a first purchase, or an underserved tract can substitute for.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Lebanon?
Think of it as one program with several ways to receive the help: forgiven at closing, forgiven after a run of on-time payments, or repaid over time. The options table on this page shows exactly which ones are offered in Tennessee and what each costs to carry.
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 Lebanon buyer chooses by what they want to carry after closing.
What credit score do I need?
A Lebanon buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Tennessee.
What property types are eligible?
A Lebanon home that the first lien accepts and the option’s property rules allow; the property side is checked before the option is confirmed.
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.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
Yes, on the repayable options: the larger repayable option covers the minimum investment and a further share of the price for closing costs and prepaid items. The nothing-to-repay and forgivable options cover the minimum investment only.
Which mortgages can the assistance be used with?
FHA on every option, with the repair-escrow and renovation programs where the options table allows them and the standard FHA loan alone on the closing-cost and refinance options; USDA and HUD-184 on the forgivable and repayable second liens (the closing-cost repayable option, the one that also reaches prepaid items, is FHA only). Conventional first liens are outside the program.
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.
Place your Lebanon purchase on the right option today.
Start with the price, the first lien you expect, and your credit tier. No credit pull or commitment is required to request an initial scenario review.
This guide covers Lebanon — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Tennessee, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Tennessee: Gallatin · Hendersonville · Smyrna · Murfreesboro · Nashville · Franklin · Spring Hill · Columbia
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans