Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Bremerton, WA figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
Of the purchase price
Assistance is sized as a share of the price, never a fixed sum: the biggest option covers the down payment and reaches closing costs, the smaller ones cover the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment.
Covers the whole FHA down payment
This covers the full 3.5% FHA minimum down payment as a second lien with no payment and no interest, forgiven once you have made 36 or 60 on-time payments on the first mortgage.
On every option offered here
Every option offered in Washington is open regardless of income, so there is no ceiling to stay under; the file is placed on the price, the credit score, and the home.
Credit score to start
This is the lowest score that opens an option here — the forgivable second liens; the repayable options start a little higher, so a stronger score opens more choices.
| Option | Assistance | What you repay | Credit · mortgage · 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 · five options offered in Washington · no option requires a first-time buyer · no option combines with another assistance program · owner-occupied primary residences only.
Nothing on this page is a Loan Estimate, an approval, a quote, or a commitment to lend. Down payment assistance eligibility, amounts, and terms depend on the first-lien program, the option, the property, the buyer’s credit and category, and full underwriting through select wholesale lenders licensed in sixteen states; the calculator’s rate is an editable benchmark and its payment an estimate. Lendmire is a mortgage broker and is never the lender, and is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, VA, 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 Bremerton, WA 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 Washington.
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.
Three shapes: forgivable, repayable, refinance
For a Bremerton buyer the choice is about cost to carry. The forgivable options cost nothing if the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period; the repayable option is a second loan with its own disclosure and a balloon, and it reaches closing costs.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
A Bremerton 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 Washington.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
No option requires a first-time buyer, and no option carries an income limit beyond the first lien’s own rules; a Bremerton buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
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 Bremerton’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census housing and income data describe who buys in Bremerton, WA and what it costs to get in; a lender reads those figures as context for the first lien, not as underwriting inputs.
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 Bremerton submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in Bremerton reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
New construction and infill
A newly built Bremerton home is eligible; the buyer’s own funds requirement is covered by the assistance, and the builder’s closing date is met once the first lien is approved. About 52% of Bremerton’s households rent — roughly 9,486 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Townhomes and attached homes
In Bremerton, a townhome in a planned development pairs cleanly with the program; the association’s rules and dues are read alongside the first lien, and the assistance covers the down payment. Median gross rent in Bremerton is about $1,641 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Bremerton 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 Bremerton’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $15,400 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in Bremerton 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 Bremerton runs near $439,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Bremerton, 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. Median household income in Bremerton sits near $74,940 on the latest Census estimate.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Bremerton duplex can use the program on the whole building; a second-lien option, which stops at two units, makes a house-hacking purchase reachable with the minimum investment covered. Bremerton itself counts a population near 45K.
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 Bremerton buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Bremerton 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.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
When the minimum investment is covered but closing costs and prepaids remain the hurdle, the repayable option in Bremerton, WA reaches both; the balance above the minimum investment goes toward the closing.
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 Bremerton, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit profile.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
For a first purchase in Bremerton, the assistance closes the down payment gap; the option is chosen by credit and first lien, and the rest of the file is an ordinary FHA purchase.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
House-hacking in Bremerton, WA 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 Bremerton price before requesting a quote.
The calculator does what a loan officer’s first pass does for a Bremerton 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.
Bremerton FHA payment with assistance
Starting assumptions reflect Bremerton’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 $440,000 price near Bremerton’s median owner-occupied home value, the strongest assistance option offered in Washington applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Washington (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 Bremerton 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.
The structure for a Bremerton 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 Bremerton, WA 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 Bremerton, WA 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 Bremerton 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.
Beyond the credit tier and the first lien, a handful of details decide which option a Bremerton buyer can use — or whether the assistance attaches at all.
Use these checks to keep the Bremerton file clean and fundable.
The checks below keep a Bremerton 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.
- Understand the clock: expect no resubordination and no additional liens.
- Consider a blended score: every borrower needs a score of their own.
The option decides what you owe afterward
A forgivable second lien costs nothing if the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period; a repayable second lien is a loan with a balloon, and it reaches closing costs. A Bremerton buyer chooses by cost to carry first and by amount second.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
For a Bremerton, WA 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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
Blending is a qualification tool on the second-lien options and nothing more; a Bremerton file that blends still needs each borrower to have a representative score, and manual underwriting is off the table.
The balloon on the repayable option
A Bremerton buyer choosing the larger option should read the balloon as a planning date: the second lien is settled by sale, refinance, or payoff before it, and the first lien continues on its own schedule.
No stacking with other assistance
A Bremerton buyer eligible for a local or employer program chooses between it and these options; they do not stack, so the comparison is made program against program before the contract is signed.
From a Bremerton pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The path from a Bremerton pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place runs through the option first and the paperwork second.
Pick the option
Every Bremerton file starts with the option and the first lien; the homebuyer education course and the property rules are then settled around them, in that order.
Get the mortgage approved
Lendmire packages the Bremerton 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 Bremerton 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 Bremerton 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 Bremerton 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
USDA where the address is eligible, HUD-184 where the buyer qualifies, FHA everywhere; the Bremerton, WA first lien is the foundation the assistance stands on.
The right wholesale program
Not every wholesale lender carries down payment assistance, and the ones that do differ on shape, floors, and states; Lendmire knows which is which.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Bremerton down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Bremerton, WA buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No. None of the options requires a first-time buyer; a Bremerton buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
Is there an income limit?
No. The options offered in Washington carry no income limit beyond the first lien’s own rules; a USDA first lien has its own limits, and an FHA or HUD-184 first lien has none.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Bremerton?
Assistance measured as a percentage of the price, in shapes that differ by what you owe afterward: nothing if the first lien stays current, or a second loan with a balloon. Credit, the first lien, and the property decide which fits.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
The forgivable second liens: no interest and no payment, released after the on-time payment period on the first lien, and they pair with FHA, USDA, and HUD-184 first liens. The repayable option is a loan with its own payment.
What credit score do I need?
Lower than most buyers expect: the entry floor for a Bremerton buyer sits in the low six hundreds, with the repayable options a step above the forgivable ones. Two-borrower files may qualify on a blended score on the second lien when the higher earner has the higher score.
What if my mortgage is above the county loan limit?
A high-balance first lien narrows the choice to the repayable options in Bremerton, WA.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
No option offered in Washington requires it, though the course covers the budget, the closing, and the responsibilities that come with the first lien and is worth an evening.
What is the rate on the mortgage and on the assistance?
A scenario review produces the actual terms; the calculator here shows an estimate at a benchmark rate you can change, with the assistance sized on the price you enter.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
One option, one first lien, one closing — no combination with other assistance.
What property types are eligible?
A Bremerton home that the first lien accepts and the option’s property rules allow; the property side is checked before the option is confirmed.
Talk through a Bremerton assistance file before the contract is signed.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your Bremerton purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers Bremerton — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Washington, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Washington: Port Orchard · Silverdale · Seattle · Burien · Shoreline · Tacoma · Federal Way · Renton
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans