Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
One source feeds every down payment assistance page Lendmire publishes; the Killeen, TX 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
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
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.
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 in Killeen, TX 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 Texas.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
The gap the program closes for a Killeen buyer is the minimum investment: the assistance covers that share of the price, the first lien carries the rest, and the buyer’s own savings stay for the move.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Killeen, TX cover the same minimum investment and differ in what the buyer owes afterward.
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
In Killeen, TX, 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 Texas 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 Killeen’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Market data for Killeen, TX frame the question every assistance file answers: at this price, how large is the minimum investment, and which option covers it?
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. Value and income rarely move at the same pace; the market figures below show how far Killeen’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 Killeen submarkets, distinct property rules.
Where a Killeen 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.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Killeen 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. Killeen counts a population near 158K within the Killeen-Temple, TX area.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
The older streets of Killeen 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 household income in Killeen sits near $60,977 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
New construction in Killeen 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Killeen runs near $215,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Condominiums close to work
Buyers in Killeen’s condominium buildings use the program to bridge the down payment, with the building’s approval status settled early so the closing is not held up. About 51% of Killeen’s households rent — roughly 30,211 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Townhomes and attached homes
The townhome rows of Killeen are where many first purchases happen, and the assistance is designed for exactly that: the minimum investment covered, the closing costs reachable on the larger option. Median gross rent in Killeen is about $1,208 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Killeen 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 Killeen’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $7,500 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Read the submarkets as orientation. The file’s figures come from the first lien, the option, and the program’s rules.
Four ways Killeen buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Killeen 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.
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 Killeen, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
A Killeen 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
The most common Killeen, TX file: an FHA first lien, the assistance covering the minimum investment, and the buyer’s own funds reserved for moving costs and reserves.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
A Killeen 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.
Size the assistance on a Killeen price before requesting a quote.
Run a Killeen 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.
Killeen FHA payment with assistance
Seeded with Killeen’s median home value; every field is editable, and the estimate updates as you change the price, the option, your cash, or the rate.
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 $215,000 price near Killeen’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.
A Killeen, TX 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.
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.
Paying the minimum investment yourself keeps the closing simplest — no second lien, no category, no course; the trade is the months or years of saving that the assistance replaces. 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 Killeen 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 a Killeen 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.
These are the points a lender reads on a Killeen assistance file before the option is confirmed; each one can move the structure.
Use these checks to keep the Killeen file clean and fundable.
Before making an offer on a Killeen, TX home, confirm the option, the county loan limit, and the property’s unit count and type.
- 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
Choose the shape before the amount: the forgivable options cover the minimum investment and cost nothing to carry when the first lien stays current; the repayable option covers more and is repaid; a nothing-to-repay option released at closing where it 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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
A Killeen, TX couple where one score is strong and the other is not may reach an option through the blended score; the rule is that the higher earner carries the higher score, and manual underwriting is off the table when blending.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
A Killeen 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 a Killeen pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a Killeen assistance file in a set order: pick the option, match the first lien, clear the property, close both liens together.
Pick the option
Every Killeen 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 Killeen 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 property side of a Killeen, TX file is where the option can change: unit count, project approval, and the loan limit are confirmed before the closing is scheduled.
Close both loans together
The Killeen 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.
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
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 Killeen, TX buyer, not by default.
The mortgage, matched to the property
A Killeen file is matched to the first-lien program that carries the property — FHA everywhere, USDA or HUD-184 where they fit — and the assistance option follows that choice.
The right wholesale program
A Killeen file is matched to the wholesale program whose option fits the buyer, and Lendmire manages the first lien and the assistance together through closing.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Killeen down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Killeen, TX buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No option requires it. A Killeen 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?
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 Killeen?
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?
A nothing-to-repay option is released at closing with no lien and no payment. The forgivable second liens also cost nothing — no interest, no payment — as long as the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period, and they pair with USDA and HUD-184 first liens as well as FHA.
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.
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.
Do I need a homebuyer education course?
Only the nothing-to-repay option requires it; the certificate is part of that file.
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.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
One option, one first lien, one closing — no combination with other assistance.
Which mortgages can the assistance be used with?
The nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA; the second-lien options pair with FHA, USDA, and HUD-184. The property and the buyer decide which first lien fits.
Ready to size the assistance on a Killeen home? Start with the price.
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 Killeen — 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: Garland · League City · Galveston · Sugar Land · FHA Loans · USDA Loans