Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Burien, WA figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
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.
Covers the whole FHA down payment
The FHA minimum down payment is 3.5%, and this option covers all of it with no interest and no monthly payment; it is forgiven after 36 or 60 on-time payments on your 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.
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. Lendmire, LLC — NMLS #2371349. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs work the same way in Burien, 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
In Burien, WA, the assistance attaches to the first lien at closing and covers the buyer’s required investment; on the larger option, what remains after the minimum investment goes toward closing costs.
Three shapes: forgivable, repayable, refinance
For a Burien 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 Burien 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 Burien 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 Burien’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
These Burien, WA figures describe the market, not a borrower; the first lien’s approval and the option’s rules carry the file, and the numbers here only explain the neighborhood it sits in.
Market context only. 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 Burien submarkets, distinct property rules.
Burien’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.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Burien buyers choosing manufactured housing, the assistance is available on owned land, with the option set by the home’s width. On a home at Burien’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $22,400 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
In Burien, owner-occupied small multi-unit buildings qualify for assistance when the buyer lives in one unit, up to two units on a purchase; the unit count decides which option applies. Median household income in Burien sits near $91,318 on the latest Census estimate.
Homes that need work
In Burien, a buyer can take on a fixer with the assistance attached to a limited renovation loan, so the down payment and the repair budget are settled in one transaction. Median gross rent in Burien is about $1,782 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
USDA-eligible areas
Where a property near Burien 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. Burien itself counts a population near 52K.
Established neighborhoods
Buyers in Burien’s core neighborhoods use the assistance to close the gap between qualifying for the payment and having the cash to close. About 43% of Burien’s households rent — roughly 8,539 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
New construction
New construction in and around Burien works with the program; the appraisal and the builder’s timeline set the pace, and the assistance closes with the first lien. The median owner-occupied home value in Burien runs near $638,800 on the latest Census estimate.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop a Burien file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Burien buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Burien 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 the costs of an FHA refinance
A Burien 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.
Pair the assistance with a USDA or HUD-184 mortgage
In USDA-eligible areas around Burien, the forgivable and repayable options pair with a no-down-payment first lien (the separate closing-cost option is FHA only); HUD-184 first liens pair the same way.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in Burien, WA qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together at one table.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
The most common Burien, WA file: an FHA first lien, the assistance covering the minimum investment, and the buyer’s own funds reserved for moving costs and reserves.
Size the assistance on a Burien price before requesting a quote.
The calculator does what a loan officer’s first pass does for a Burien 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.
Burien FHA payment with assistance
A Burien 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: 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 $600,000 price near Burien’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.
The right structure for a Burien, WA buyer depends on savings, credit, the first lien, and whether the help needs to reach closing costs.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
Assistance that closes with the first lien: it covers the minimum investment; its shape is chosen by the credit tier and the first lien, and the second-lien options stay 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 forgivable options and the ten-year repayable option carry the Burien file; the separate closing-cost option is FHA only. 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 — Lendmire places the Burien, WA file where it reads best.
What to prepare for a Burien 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.
The assistance is the easy part; the rules around it are where Burien, WA files stall. These are the ones that most often change a file’s shape.
Use these checks to keep the Burien file clean and fundable.
Settle the option, the first lien, the property’s eligibility, and the category before the appraisal is ordered; a Burien file that clears these reads cleanly.
- Know the option: confirm the option is offered in the state.
- Understand the clock: keep the first lien current through the forgiveness period.
- Consider a blended score: expect an automated approval, not a manual underwrite.
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 Burien 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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
Blending is a qualification tool on the second-lien options and nothing more; a Burien file that blends still needs each borrower to have a representative score, and manual underwriting is off the table.
Property type and unit count select the option
Before the contract is signed on a Burien home, the unit count, the condominium status, the manufactured-home width and title, and any association package are checked against the option’s rules.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
A Burien 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 a Burien pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The path from a Burien pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place runs through the option first and the paperwork second.
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 a Burien, WA buyer — settled before anything is ordered.
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 Burien 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 Burien, 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 a Burien 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
FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 is chosen with the Burien property — its address, its unit count, its type — so the assistance option that pairs with it is the one that attaches.
The right wholesale program
Assistance programs differ across wholesale lenders in what they offer and where; Lendmire places a Burien, WA file where its credit, its first lien, and its property read best, subject to lender program eligibility.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Burien down payment assistance FAQs
Straight answers for Burien 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?
No option requires it. First-time status is not a rule of the program in Washington; the options open on the credit tier, the first-lien program, and the property.
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 a Burien buyer meets.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Burien?
Three shapes paired with a government first lien: forgivable second liens with no interest and no payment, released after an on-time payment period; a repayable second lien with a balloon that also reaches closing costs and prepaids; and a refinance-cost option for an existing FHA loan. The options table on this page shows what is offered in Washington.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
It depends on the shape a Burien buyer takes: a forgivable second lien costs nothing to carry as long as the first lien stays current through the period and is then released, while a repayable second lien is repaid on a thirty-year amortization with a ten-year balloon; the options table on this page shows what each option costs to carry.
What credit score do I need?
A Burien buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Washington.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
The larger repayable option reaches closing costs; the others stop at the down payment. A Burien buyer short on both uses the larger option.
What is the rate on the mortgage and on the assistance?
It depends on the first lien, the option, and the file; the rate shown in the calculator is an editable market benchmark, not a quote, and the payment it produces is an illustrative estimate. A scenario review produces the terms.
How does a forgivable second lien work — the small second loan behind the mortgage?
It is a lien that costs nothing to carry and disappears on schedule; the clock runs with the first lien’s payments.
What is the repayable option and when does it make sense?
The repayable second lien covers the minimum investment and closing costs, and it makes sense when the help has to reach closing costs or the first lien is high balance; plan around its balloon and read its disclosures as the loan it is.
What does Lendmire do on a Burien first-time home buyer file?
Reads the options offered in Washington against the credit, the first lien, the property, and the category; chooses the wholesale program that carries the fit; packages the first lien and the assistance together; and manages both liens through closing. Lendmire is the broker, never the lender, and is not affiliated with FHA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government.
Ready to size the assistance on a Burien home? Start with the price.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your Burien purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers Burien — 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: Renton · Kent · Seattle · Federal Way · Bellevue · Auburn · Port Orchard · Tacoma
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans