Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Delano, CA figures below refresh when the program sheets are updated.
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 entire 3.5% FHA minimum down payment and is forgiven at closing: no lien on the home, no monthly payment, no interest. It opens on the area income limit or on 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
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 California · 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.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs in Delano, CA answer the most common reason a qualified buyer does not close — the cash to close — with assistance measured on the price and shaped to the buyer’s situation.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s down payment assistance program, or the statewide guide at Down Payment Assistance in California.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
In Delano, CA, 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.
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 California.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
Each option carries its own credit floor, its own first-lien list, and its own unit limit: the nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA and reaches four units; the second-lien options pair with FHA, USDA, and HUD-184 and stop at two units for a purchase.
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 Delano’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
These Delano, CA 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.
Read the figures as backdrop. A large renter share signals demand for the program; a moderate median value signals that the minimum investment is within the assistance’s reach; 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 Delano submarkets, distinct property rules.
Delano’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.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Delano 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. Delano counts a population near 52K within the Bakersfield-Delano, CA area.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
In Delano’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. About 37% of Delano’s households rent — roughly 4,491 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
In Delano, owner-occupied small multi-unit buildings qualify for assistance when the buyer lives in one of the units; the unit count decides which option applies. On a home at Delano’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $10,600 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Manufactured homes on owned land
Manufactured housing on owned land near Delano is eligible, with the option decided by the home’s width: the nothing-to-repay option accepts single-width homes, while the second-lien options accept double-width only. Median household income in Delano sits near $67,010 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
A newly built Delano 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Delano runs near $301,900 on the latest Census estimate.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Delano, 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 Delano is about $1,199 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
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 Delano buyers put down payment assistance to work.
From a first home to a small multi-unit building to an FHA refinance, down payment assistance in Delano, CA solves a specific set of problems.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
A Delano 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.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
A Delano buyer with the income for the payment but not the cash to close uses the assistance to cover the FHA minimum investment, some with nothing to repay, and keeps savings for the move.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
A Delano buyer taking on a fixer pairs a limited or standard renovation first lien with the assistance; the help is figured on the purchase price, and the loan covers price plus repairs.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
When the minimum investment is covered but closing costs and prepaids are the remaining hurdle, the larger repayable option in Delano, CA reaches both — the balance above the minimum investment goes toward the closing.
Size the assistance on a Delano price before requesting a quote.
The calculator does what a loan officer’s first pass does for a Delano 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.
Delano FHA payment with assistance
A Delano 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 $300,000 price near Delano’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), the strongest assistance option offered in California applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for California (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.
A Delano, CA buyer can reach the closing table several ways; the difference is where the minimum investment comes from and what it costs to carry afterward.
Assistance on a government loan, saving the minimum, or a gift.
The structure for a Delano 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 Delano, CA 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.
Where the property is USDA-eligible or the buyer qualifies for HUD-184, the second-lien options carry the Delano file, and the closing costs are what the assistance covers. 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 Delano 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.
Every Delano 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 Delano file clean and fundable.
Three checks keep a Delano 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: complete the homebuyer education course where required.
- Do not stack: choose one assistance program.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways in Delano, CA, 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.
No stacking with other assistance
No option may be combined with another down payment assistance program, and the nothing-to-repay option does not combine with a high-balance first lien; one assistance option, one first lien, one closing.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
A Delano 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
For a Delano, CA 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.
From a Delano pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The path from a Delano pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place runs through the option first and the paperwork second.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the Delano scenario against the options offered in California: 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 Delano 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
The first lien and the assistance close at the same table — the assistance as a grant released at closing where offered, or as a second lien with its own loan number — and the Delano buyer receives keys with the minimum investment covered.
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
A Delano 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 Delano, CA 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.
Delano down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Delano, CA 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, never on whether you have owned before.
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 Delano?
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 California and what each costs to carry.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
Where the nothing-to-repay option is offered, nothing at all — no lien, no payment, no interest. The forgivable second liens are also free to carry: no payment and no interest, and they disappear once you have made the on-time mortgage payments the program asks for. Only the repayable option comes with a payment.
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 mortgage’s own rules apply on top.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
No. One assistance program per file. The nothing-to-repay option also does not combine with a high-balance first lien or with certain FHA specialty programs.
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.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
Required on one option, optional on the rest; schedule it early if the nothing-to-repay option is the plan.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
Closing-cost coverage lives on the repayable second lien; on a USDA first lien, which needs no down payment, the second-lien options cover closing costs and prepaids instead.
What is the rate on the mortgage and on the assistance?
The first lien’s rate is set by the lender at lock; the calculator on this page seeds its rate field from the weekly Freddie Mac conventional benchmark as a market reference, not an FHA quote, and every field stays editable. The repayable second lien’s terms are set by the program and disclosed on its own documents; the forgivable and nothing-to-repay options carry no interest.
The down payment is the hurdle. Let us clear it.
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 Delano — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in California, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in California: Glendale · Bellflower · Big Bear Lake · Apple Valley · FHA Loans · USDA Loans