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
The FHA minimum down payment is 3.5%, and this option covers all of it 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
Most of the options carry no income limit, so a higher-earning household qualifies the same as anyone else; only the nothing-to-repay option looks at income, at 140% of the area median, or at 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.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs work the same way in Pharr, TX 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 Texas.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
Every option is sized on the price, not on a fixed sum: the smaller options cover the minimum investment, the larger repayable option covers it and reaches closing costs and prepaid items too.
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 Texas.
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 Pharr 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 Pharr’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
The share of Pharr, TX households that rent, the median home value, and the median household income together sketch the gap the assistance closes for a first purchase.
Market context only. Value and income rarely move at the same pace; the market figures below show how far Pharr’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 Pharr submarkets, distinct property rules.
Where a Pharr home sits changes which option can attach and what the property review asks; the submarkets below are the map most assistance files are read against.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in Pharr 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 Pharr runs near $121,900 on the latest Census estimate.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Pharr 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. Pharr counts a population near 80K within the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX area.
New construction and infill
New construction in Pharr works with the program; the appraisal and the builder’s timeline set the pace, and the assistance closes with the first lien like any other purchase. About 41% of Pharr’s households rent — roughly 9,762 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Pharr, 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 gross rent in Pharr is about $1,037 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Pharr 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 household income in Pharr sits near $52,814 on the latest Census estimate.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Pharr 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 Pharr’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $4,300 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop a Pharr file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Pharr buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Pharr 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 two-to-four-unit home and live in one unit
House-hacking in Pharr, TX 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 the costs of an FHA refinance
The refinance-cost option in Pharr, TX is for an existing FHA loan, not a streamline, and not a loan that already carries assistance; it is sized on the lesser of balance or value.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older Pharr 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
The larger option exists for the Pharr, TX closing where the down payment is only half the problem: it carries the minimum investment and a further share for costs.
Size the assistance on a Pharr price before requesting a quote.
Run a Pharr price through the options before you request a quote: the minimum investment, the assistance applied, what is left for closing costs, the mortgage insurance tier, and the estimated payment. Enter income to see the ratios a lender reads.
Pharr FHA payment with assistance
A Pharr scenario to start from — adjust the price, the option, your own cash, the term, and the rate to see the assistance and the payment.
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 $150,000 price near Pharr’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), 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, four very different closings.
The right structure for a Pharr, TX 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.
Covers the FHA minimum investment as a percentage of the price — some with nothing to repay — with forgivable and repayable second-lien shapes, credit floors in the low six hundreds, and no first-time-buyer rule; the larger option reaches closing costs and prepaids.
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 Pharr file, and the closing costs are what the assistance covers. For the USDA first lien, see the USDA loan program.
Assistance fits the buyer short of cash to close; the plain purchase fits the buyer with savings; the USDA and HUD-184 pairing fits eligible properties and borrowers; a documented gift fits when family can help — Lendmire places the Pharr, TX file where it reads best.
What to prepare for a Pharr 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.
These are the points a lender reads on a Pharr assistance file before the option is confirmed; each one can move the structure.
Use these checks to keep the Pharr file clean and fundable.
Three checks keep a Pharr assistance file on track: know which option the credit tier opens, know which first lien the property can carry, and know the category that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
- Know the option: confirm the option is offered in the state.
- Confirm the category: identify the category that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
- Confirm the property: check the unit count against the option’s limit.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways in Pharr, 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
For a Pharr buyer, the category question is worth answering early: a buyer inside the income limit or in a qualifying occupation reaches the nothing-to-repay option; a buyer outside every category uses the forgivable or repayable second liens, which carry no income limit.
Property type and unit count select the option
The property itself can move a Pharr, TX file: a fourplex, a single-width manufactured home, or an unapproved condominium project each changes which option can attach, so the address is read before the option is promised.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
For a Pharr, TX 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.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
In Pharr, TX, the first-lien program is chosen with the property: USDA where the address is eligible, HUD-184 where the buyer qualifies, FHA everywhere. The county loan limit then decides whether a larger first lien can still carry an assistance option.
From a Pharr pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Four steps take a Pharr, TX assistance file from a first read to funding; the first one is the one most buyers skip.
Pick the option
Every Pharr file starts with the option and the first lien; the category, the education course, and the property rules are then settled around them, in that order.
Get the mortgage approved
Lendmire packages the Pharr 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
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
The Pharr 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
Lendmire reads the options offered in Texas against a Pharr 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 Pharr, TX 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.
Pharr down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Pharr, TX buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No option requires it. A Pharr 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 Pharr?
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 property types are eligible?
A Pharr home that the first lien accepts and the option’s property rules allow; the property side is checked before the option is confirmed.
What does Lendmire do on a Pharr first-time home buyer file?
The structural work: option, first lien, property, category, education, disclosures, closing. A Pharr buyer brings the contract; Lendmire brings the fit.
How does a forgivable second lien work — the small second loan behind the mortgage?
It is recorded as a second lien with no interest and no monthly payment, and it is released after the on-time payment period on the first lien — three years on one option, five on the other — as long as there is no serious delinquency in that window and the home stays the primary residence.
Which mortgages can the assistance be used with?
FHA on every option, including the repair-escrow and renovation programs; USDA and HUD-184 on the forgivable and repayable second liens. Conventional first liens are outside the program.
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.
Ready to size the assistance on a Pharr home? Start with the price.
A first read of a Pharr 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 Pharr — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Texas, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Texas: Fort Worth · San Marcos · Arlington · Texarkana · FHA Loans · USDA Loans