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
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
Nothing to repay, ever: this option pays the full 3.5% FHA minimum down payment and leaves no lien behind, for buyers within the area income limit or in a qualifying category.
On the forgivable and repayable options
The forgivable and repayable options have no income limit at all — one of the biggest advantages of this program. Only the nothing-to-repay option asks for income at or below 140% of the area median, or 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 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.
For Folsom, CA buyers, the first-time home buyer programs work the same way: the first lien carries most of the price, the assistance covers the minimum investment, and the shape of the assistance — nothing to repay, forgivable, or repayable — decides what it costs to carry.
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
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
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Folsom, CA cover the same minimum investment and differ in what the buyer owes afterward.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
A Folsom 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 California.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
In Folsom, CA, the question is not whether this is a first home; it is which option fits the credit, the first lien, and the property — and, for the nothing-to-repay option, which qualifying category applies.
The calculator below runs this math on a price you enter. Choose an assistance option offered in California 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 Folsom’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Where Folsom, CA’s renters live, what a median home costs, and what a median household earns — Census estimates give the backdrop for a down payment assistance file.
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 Folsom submarkets, distinct property rules.
Where a Folsom 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.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Folsom, 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Folsom runs near $755,200 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Folsom 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. Folsom counts a population near 84K within the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA area.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Folsom 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 Folsom’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $26,400 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Townhomes and attached homes
Attached homes and townhomes in Folsom 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 Folsom sits near $139,804 on the latest Census estimate.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
The older streets of Folsom are full of homes that need work, and the assistance pairs with a renovation first lien: the assistance is figured on the purchase price, while the loan itself covers price plus repairs. Median gross rent in Folsom is about $2,352 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in Folsom pair with the assistance as long as the property is the buyer’s primary residence and the first lien is a government program. About 30% of Folsom’s households rent — roughly 9,065 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop a Folsom file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Folsom 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 Folsom, CA solves a specific set of problems.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
Owners in Folsom with an FHA loan and little cash for a refinance use the refinance-cost option, subject to its own credit floor and combined-leverage limit.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
The larger option exists for the Folsom, CA closing where the down payment is only half the problem: it carries the minimum investment and a further share for costs.
Buy a two-to-four-unit home and live in one unit
For a Folsom buyer choosing a small multi-unit home, the assistance attaches to the first lien on the building, up to the option’s unit limit.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
The most common Folsom, CA 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 Folsom price before requesting a quote.
The calculator does what a loan officer’s first pass does for a Folsom 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.
Folsom FHA payment with assistance
A Folsom 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 $600,000 price near Folsom’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.
The right structure for a Folsom, CA 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.
For a Folsom, 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.
On a USDA or HUD-184 first lien, the assistance shifts to the second-lien options and to the closing costs; the nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA. 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 a Folsom 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.
A down payment assistance file in Folsom, CA is won or lost on details a plain purchase never meets: the eligibility category, the forgiveness clock, the balloon on the repayable option, the county loan limit, the property type.
Use these checks to keep the Folsom file clean and fundable.
Three checks keep a Folsom 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: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Confirm the category: remember that the second-lien options carry no income limit.
- Match the first lien: confirm the first-lien program for the property.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways in Folsom, 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
For a Folsom 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.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
In Folsom, CA, 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.
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.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
On the second-lien options, minor, non-structural repairs can be escrowed at closing: the repairs must not affect health, safety, or livability, and the work is completed and inspected within a set period after closing.
From a Folsom pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The path from a Folsom pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place runs through the option first and the paperwork second.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the Folsom 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 Folsom 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 Folsom buyer receives keys with the minimum investment covered.
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
The nothing-to-repay option where it fits, the forgivable options where it does not, the repayable option where closing costs are the hurdle — chosen for the Folsom, CA buyer, not by default.
The mortgage, matched to the property
FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 is chosen with the Folsom 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 Folsom, CA file where its credit, its first lien, and its property read best, subject to lender program eligibility.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Folsom down payment assistance FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Folsom 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. Being a first-time buyer is one of four categories that opens the nothing-to-repay option; the second-lien options have no first-time-buyer rule and no income limit at all.
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 mortgage’s own rules.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Folsom?
Four shapes paired with a government mortgage: a nothing-to-repay option released at closing; 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 California.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
It depends on the shape you choose. Grant-style help is released at closing and never repaid; a forgivable second lien is forgiven after the on-time period; a repayable second lien is a real second loan with a balloon. A Folsom buyer chooses by what they want to carry after closing.
What credit score do I need?
Scores in the low six hundreds open the first option, and each step up in score opens more of them. The mortgage program has its own rules too, so the credit score, the mortgage, and the property are read together before the option is named.
Can I use the assistance on a second home or a rental?
No. Every option is for an owner-occupied primary residence; on the forgivable and repayable options the home must stay the primary residence for the term of the second lien.
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.
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.
What does Lendmire do on a Folsom first-time home buyer file?
Reads the options offered in California 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.
What property types are eligible?
A Folsom home that the first lien accepts and the option’s property rules allow; the property side is checked before the option is confirmed.
Bring the price. We will find the option.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your Folsom purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers Folsom — 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: Palm Springs · Garden Grove · Victorville · Chico · FHA Loans · USDA Loans