Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
The snapshot below is not typed onto this page — it is pulled from one down payment assistance guideline source and refreshed when that source changes, so McKinney, TX always shows the options in force.
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, in whole or, on the lowest tier, in part.
Covers the FHA down payment, in whole or in part
This covers the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment in whole or, on its lower tier, in part, 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
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 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. Lendmire, LLC — NMLS #2371349. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
First-time home buyer programs are not one program; they are a family of down payment assistance options paired with a government-backed first lien, and the right one for a McKinney, TX buyer depends on credit, the first lien, the property, and whether the help needs to reach closing costs.
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
An FHA purchase asks for a minimum investment from the buyer; the assistance covers it, measured as a percentage of the lesser of price or value, and the largest option carries a further share for closing costs and prepaids.
Four shapes: grant, forgivable, repayable, refinance
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in McKinney, TX cover the same minimum investment and differ in what the buyer owes afterward, and a fourth, the refinance-cost option, serves an existing FHA loan.
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 McKinney, 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 assistance is measured on the price, so the calculator starts there. It then applies the option you choose, your own cash, and an editable benchmark rate to show the loan, the mortgage insurance, and the payment.
Where McKinney’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census housing and income data describe who buys in McKinney, TX and what it costs to get in; a lender reads those figures as context for the first lien, not as underwriting inputs.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. The higher the median value, the larger the minimum investment in dollars; that is why the assistance is sized as a percentage of the price rather than a fixed sum, and why the larger option matters more in expensive markets.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct McKinney submarkets, distinct property rules.
A down payment assistance file in McKinney reads differently by submarket — condominium approval, association packages, unit counts, and USDA eligibility all shift from one to the next.
Townhomes and attached homes
In McKinney, a townhome in a planned development pairs cleanly with the program; the association’s rules and dues are read alongside the first lien, and the assistance covers the down payment. Median gross rent in McKinney is about $1,901 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in McKinney 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 McKinney runs near $471,800 on the latest Census estimate.
Manufactured homes on owned land
Manufactured housing on owned land near McKinney 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 McKinney sits near $124,215 on the latest Census estimate.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a McKinney duplex can use the program on the whole building; the nothing-to-repay option, which reaches four units, makes a house-hacking purchase reachable with the minimum investment covered. McKinney itself counts a population near 211K.
Condominiums close to work
Buyers in McKinney’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. On a home at McKinney’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $16,500 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
New construction and infill
New construction in McKinney 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 36% of McKinney’s households rent — roughly 26,782 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop a McKinney file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways McKinney buyers put down payment assistance to work.
Down payment assistance in McKinney, TX is used for more than a first purchase; these are the structures McKinney buyers ask about most.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
A McKinney buyer with the income for the payment but not the cash to close uses the assistance to cover the FHA minimum investment, a grant with nothing to repay, and keeps savings for the move.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
When the minimum investment is covered but closing costs and prepaids remain the hurdle, the repayable option in McKinney, TX reaches both; the balance above the minimum investment goes toward the closing.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
Owners in McKinney with an FHA loan and little cash for a refinance use the refinance-cost option, subject to its own credit floor and the combined-leverage limit it carries.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in McKinney, TX qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together at one table.
Size the assistance on a McKinney price before requesting a quote.
This tool applies the program to a McKinney scenario: the price sets the minimum investment, the option and your cash set the down payment, and the FHA loan, mortgage insurance, and payment follow at the benchmark rate shown. Every field is editable; the rate is a market reference, not a quote.
McKinney FHA payment with assistance
Starting assumptions reflect McKinney’s home values; change any field and the loan, the mortgage insurance, and the payment are recalculated.
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 $470,000 price near McKinney’s median owner-occupied home value, 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, three very different closings.
A McKinney, 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 an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
The structure for a McKinney 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 McKinney, TX 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.
USDA and HUD-184 first liens pair with the forgivable options and the ten-year repayable option on a McKinney, TX file; the separate closing-cost option is FHA only. 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 McKinney scenario review.
What a down payment assistance review usually starts with.
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.
Beyond the credit tier and the first lien, a handful of details decide which option a McKinney buyer can use — or whether the assistance attaches at all.
Use these checks to keep the McKinney file clean and fundable.
Before making an offer on a McKinney, TX home, confirm the option, the county loan limit, and the property’s unit count and type.
- Know the option: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Confirm the category: settle which category applies before the application is signed.
- Plan for the balloon: treat the tenth-year balloon as a planning date.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways on a purchase in McKinney, 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
The nothing-to-repay option opens on any one of four categories — household income at or below the area limit, a community-service occupation, a first purchase, or a property in an underserved census tract — plus a homebuyer education course; the second-lien options need none of these.
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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
A McKinney, TX couple where one score is strong and the other is not may reach an option through the blended score, which applies only when the primary wage earner also holds the higher score and the file carries an automated approval; there is no manual underwriting on a blended file.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
For a McKinney, 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.
From a McKinney pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The process for a McKinney, TX purchase with assistance is deliberate, because the details around the assistance are what stall closings.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the McKinney scenario against the options offered in Texas: the credit tier, the first lien, the unit count, the category, and whether the help must reach closing costs.
Get the mortgage approved
Lendmire packages the McKinney 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
Final underwriting reads the whole McKinney, TX 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.
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
A McKinney 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 McKinney, 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.
McKinney down payment assistance FAQs
Plain answers to the questions McKinney 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 option requires it. A McKinney buyer who has owned before qualifies for the second-lien options on credit, mortgage, 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 ceiling in the snapshot, 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 McKinney?
Assistance measured as a percentage of the price, in shapes that differ by what you owe afterward: nothing, nothing if the mortgage stays current, or a second loan with a balloon. Credit, the mortgage, 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 mortgage stays current through the forgiveness period, and they pair with USDA and HUD-184 mortgages as well as FHA. The repayable options are loans, with a monthly payment and a balloon.
What credit score do I need?
Each option has its own floor, starting in the low six hundreds on the nothing-to-repay option and stepping up on the forgivable and repayable second liens; every borrower needs a score, and two-borrower files may qualify on a blended score on the second-lien options. The snapshot shows the floors in force.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
Yes, on the repayable options: the larger repayable option covers the minimum investment and a further share of the price for closing costs and prepaid items. The nothing-to-repay and forgivable options cover the minimum investment only.
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.
Can I use the assistance on a second home or a rental?
Primary residences only. Investment properties and second homes are outside the program.
Can I buy a duplex or a fourplex with assistance?
Yes, if you live in one of the units. The nothing-to-repay option reaches four units; the purchase second-lien options stop at two; the refinance-cost option reaches four with one unit owner-occupied.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
One option, one first lien, one closing — no combination with other assistance.
Place your McKinney purchase on the right option today.
A first read of a McKinney 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 McKinney — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Texas, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Texas: Allen · Frisco · Celina · Plano · Wylie · Little Elm · Richardson · Carrollton
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans