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.
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 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
The score that opens the forgivable options; the repayable options start a step higher. Two-borrower files may use a blended score on the second-lien options.
| 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.
The figures on this page are program parameters, not offers: assistance percentages, credit floors, unit limits, and forgiveness periods vary by option and by state, and every file is underwritten individually. The calculator estimates an FHA payment at an editable benchmark rate that is not a quote; no fee or lender is stated or implied. Lendmire brokers these loans through its wholesale network in sixteen licensed states, is never the lender, and is not affiliated with FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs work the same way in Everett, WA as anywhere in the footprint: a government first lien, an assistance option sized as a percentage of the price, and a set of rules about credit, units, and eligibility that decide which option fits.
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.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
For an Everett 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 that reaches closing costs.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
An Everett 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; an Everett buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
The calculator below runs this math on a price you enter. Choose an assistance option offered in Washington 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 Everett’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census housing and income data describe who buys in Everett, WA and what it costs to get in; a lender reads those figures as context for the first lien, not as underwriting inputs.
Read the figures as backdrop. Value and income rarely move at the same pace; the market figures below show how far Everett’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 Everett submarkets, distinct property rules.
Everett’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.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
The small multi-unit stock in Everett is a path to a first home that also earns rent; the assistance pairs with the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit. About 51% of Everett’s households rent — roughly 22,792 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
In Everett’s established neighborhoods, a buyer can use the program with a limited or standard renovation loan, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together. The median owner-occupied home value in Everett runs near $565,300 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
A newly built Everett 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. Median gross rent in Everett is about $1,740 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Everett 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 Everett’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $19,800 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Everett 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 Everett sits near $83,512 on the latest Census estimate.
Condominiums close to work
In Everett, 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. Everett counts a population near 112K within the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop an Everett file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Everett buyers put down payment assistance to work.
Down payment assistance in Everett, WA is used for more than a first purchase; these are the structures Everett buyers ask about most.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
An Everett 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.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in Everett, WA qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together.
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 Everett, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
An Everett homeowner refinancing an existing FHA loan can use the refinance-cost option, a repayable second lien sized on the balance, to cover closing costs and keep the first lien inside FHA limits.
Size the assistance on an Everett price before requesting a quote.
This tool applies the program to an Everett 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.
Everett FHA payment with assistance
Starting assumptions reflect Everett’s home values; change any field and the loan, the mortgage insurance, and the payment are recalculated.
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 $565,000 price near Everett’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), 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, four very different closings.
Same Everett buyer, four closings: assistance on an FHA loan, the buyer’s own minimum investment, assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan, or a gift from family.
Assistance on a government loan, saving the minimum, or a gift.
Assistance paired with the first lien at closing: the minimum investment covered, the shape chosen by credit, first lien, and eligibility category, and the second-lien options 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 second-lien options carry the Everett file, and the closing costs are what the assistance covers. For the USDA first lien, see the USDA loan program.
If the payment fits but the cash to close does not, down payment assistance is the structure; if the cash is there, the plain purchase; if the property is USDA-eligible, the USDA first lien with assistance for costs.
What to prepare for an Everett scenario review.
A typical starting file for a first purchase with assistance.
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 Everett 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 Everett file clean and fundable.
A clean Everett 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: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Understand the clock: keep the first lien current through the forgiveness period.
- Do not stack: choose one assistance program.
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 that reaches closing costs. An Everett buyer chooses by cost to carry first and by amount second.
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.
No stacking with other assistance
An Everett 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.
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.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
An Everett buyer near the county loan limit should settle the first lien’s size first; a high-balance first lien narrows the options to the repayable ones, and the choice of USDA or HUD-184 narrows them further.
From an Everett pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs an Everett 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 an Everett, WA 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
Property review runs in parallel with the first lien; the Everett 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
Final underwriting reads the whole Everett, WA 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 Washington against an Everett 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 Everett, 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.
Everett down payment assistance FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Everett buyers ask most about down payment assistance, before you request a review. Every file is underwritten individually; nothing here is a commitment.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No. None of the options requires a first-time buyer; an Everett buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
Is there an income limit?
There is no income limit on the forgivable or repayable options; the first lien’s rules are the only income test an Everett buyer meets.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Everett?
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?
For an Everett buyer, a forgivable second lien — it costs nothing to carry as long as the first lien stays current through the period; the options table on this page shows what each option costs to carry.
What credit score do I need?
An Everett buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Washington.
What if my mortgage is above the county loan limit?
A high-balance first lien narrows the choice to the repayable options in Everett, WA.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
The options do not stack with each other or with local, state, or employer programs; an Everett buyer eligible for more than one chooses the one that fits best.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
The repayable options reach closing costs; the others stop at the down payment. An Everett buyer short on both uses the larger option.
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.
How does a forgivable second lien work — the small second loan behind the mortgage?
A lien that costs nothing to carry and disappears on schedule; the clock runs with the first lien’s payments.
Place your Everett purchase on the right option today.
A first read of an Everett assistance scenario takes a few minutes and commits you to nothing; the option, the category, and the property rules are explained before anything is ordered.
This guide covers Everett — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Washington, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Washington: Kennewick · Longview · Seattle · Walla Walla · FHA Loans · USDA Loans