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 Michigan 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
Nothing to repay, ever: this option pays the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment in whole or, on its lower tier, in part, 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
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 Michigan · 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 Michigan 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; for the first lien, the FHA loan program.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
In Michigan, 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
Nothing to repay, forgiven over time, or repaid with a balloon: the three purchase shapes in Michigan 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
A Michigan 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 Michigan.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
In Michigan, 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.
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 Michigan’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Statewide Census figures give the backdrop for Michigan’s renters, home values, and household incomes; the market pages beneath this guide carry each city’s own numbers.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. 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.
Where Michigan’s renters live — market by market.
From Detroit to Grand Rapids, these are the Michigan markets with the most renter households, each with its own down payment assistance page.
Detroit
In Detroit, about 50% of households rent — near 128,103 renter households — and the metropolitan market there sees a steady flow of assisted first purchases. Census context: median value near $83,900, median household income near $39,938, population near 639K.
Grand Rapids
Roughly 36,871 Grand Rapids households rent, about 46% of the total, which makes it a metropolitan market where down payment assistance closes a great many first purchases. Census context: median value near $244,500, median household income near $69,108, population near 199K.
Ann Arbor
In Ann Arbor, about 55% of households rent — near 27,544 renter households — and the metropolitan market there sees a steady flow of assisted first purchases. Census context: median value near $453,400, median household income near $82,212, population near 122K.
Lansing
In Lansing, about 46% of households rent — near 23,817 renter households — and the metropolitan market there sees a steady flow of assisted first purchases. Census context: median value near $128,700, median household income near $54,382, population near 113K.
Kalamazoo
About 58% of Kalamazoo’s households rent, near 17,044; the metropolitan market there produces the moderate-price purchases the program is built for. Census context: median value near $179,000, median household income near $52,272, population near 73K.
Southfield
Renters are a substantial share of Southfield — about 47% of households, roughly 16,242 — so a down payment assistance file in this metropolitan market is an ordinary purchase, not an exception. Census context: median value near $236,200, median household income near $68,166, population near 76K.
Market rankings describe where renters live, not the strength of any file; every Michigan purchase is underwritten on its own first lien, its own credit, and its own option.
Four ways Michigan buyers put down payment assistance to work.
How Michigan 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
Owners in Michigan 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.
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 Michigan reaches both; the balance above the minimum investment goes toward the closing.
Pair the assistance with a USDA or HUD-184 mortgage
A Michigan buyer on a USDA or HUD-184 first lien uses the second-lien options, forgivable or repayable; the nothing-to-repay option pairs only with FHA first liens.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in Michigan 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 Michigan price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Michigan purchase price, choose an assistance option offered in Michigan, and add any cash of your own. The calculator sizes the FHA minimum investment, applies the assistance to the down payment and closing costs, builds the FHA loan with its upfront and monthly mortgage insurance, and estimates the payment at an editable market benchmark rate — with housing and total ratios when you enter income.
Michigan FHA payment with assistance
Seeded from Michigan’s home values; every field is editable, and the estimate updates as you change the price, the option, your cash, or the rate.
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 $230,000 price near Michigan’s median owner-occupied home value, the strongest assistance option offered in Michigan applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Michigan (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.
Down payment assistance is one of the ways a Michigan buyer covers the minimum investment; each has a different cost after closing.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
The structure for a Michigan 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 Michigan 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 in Michigan the assistance is forgivable or the ten-year repayable kind; 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 Michigan file where it reads best.
What to prepare for a Michigan 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.
The assistance is the easy part; the rules around it are where Michigan files stall. These are the ones that most often change a file’s shape.
Use these checks to keep the Michigan file clean and fundable.
The checks below keep a Michigan assistance file on track, and each one comes from the option’s own terms rather than from a lender’s preference.
- Know the option: choose by cost to carry first, amount second.
- Confirm the category: identify the category that opens the nothing-to-repay option.
- Handle small repairs: escrow more than the estimated cost.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered three ways on a purchase in Michigan, 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.
Escrow holdbacks for minor repairs
A Michigan 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
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.
No stacking with other assistance
No option may be combined with another down payment assistance program in Michigan, and the nothing-to-repay and forgivable options do not combine with a high-balance first lien; one assistance option, one first lien, one closing.
From a Michigan pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The process for a Michigan purchase with assistance is deliberate, because the details around the assistance are what stall closings.
Pick the option
Lendmire reads the Michigan scenario against the options offered in Michigan: the credit tier, the first lien, the unit count, the category, and whether the help must reach closing costs.
Get the mortgage approved
The first lien’s approval carries the file; the assistance is arranged alongside it, with the eligibility category and the education certificate in hand where they apply.
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 Michigan 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.
Pairing the right assistance to the right first lien for a Michigan buyer means knowing which option the credit opens, which the property allows, and what each costs to carry — before the contract is signed.
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 Michigan buyer, not by default.
The mortgage, matched to the property
A Michigan 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 Michigan 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.
Michigan down payment assistance FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Michigan 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 Michigan 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?
For most of the options, no. The forgivable and repayable second liens carry no income limit at all. The nothing-to-repay option is the one that looks at income, and even there a qualifying occupation, a first purchase, or an underserved census tract opens it as an alternative to the income test.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Michigan?
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 Michigan and what each costs to carry.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
It depends on the shape a Michigan buyer takes. Two carry nothing to repay: the nothing-to-repay option where it is offered, and the forgivable second liens, released after the on-time payment period. The repayable options are loans, paid back with interest and a balloon.
What credit score do I need?
A Michigan buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Michigan.
How does a forgivable second lien work — the small second loan behind the mortgage?
You do not pay it as long as the first lien stays current through the period; after the period it is forgiven. A sale or refinance inside the period pays it off.
What is the repayable option and when does it make sense?
It is a loan — the repayable options are the only purchase options with a payment — in exchange for covering the most. A Michigan buyer chooses it for the closing-cost coverage or the high-balance pairing.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
No. One assistance program per Michigan file. The nothing-to-repay and forgivable options also do not combine with a high-balance first lien, and the nothing-to-repay option not with certain FHA specialty programs.
What property types are eligible?
Single-family homes, FHA-approved condominiums, townhomes and planned developments, owner-occupied two-to-four-unit homes within each option’s limit, and manufactured homes on owned land — single-width on the nothing-to-repay option, double-width on the second-lien options. Unique property types are outside the second-lien options.
What does Lendmire do on a Michigan first-time home buyer file?
The structural work covers the option, the first lien, the property, the category, the education course, the disclosures, and closing. A Michigan buyer brings the contract; Lendmire brings the fit.
Bring the Michigan price. We will find the option.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your Michigan purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers Michigan — for the program overview and the options, see Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
All Michigan city guides (40): Ann Arbor · Battle Creek · Bay City · Dearborn · Dearborn Heights · Detroit · East Lansing · Farmington Hills · Flint · Grand Rapids · Jackson · Kalamazoo · Kentwood · Lansing · Livonia · Mackinac Island · Midland · Monroe · Munising · Muskegon · Niles · Norton Shores · Novi · Petoskey · Pontiac · Portage · Rochester Hills · Royal Oak · Saginaw · Saugatuck · South Haven · Southfield · St. Clair Shores · Sterling Heights · Taylor · Traverse City · Troy · Warren · Westland · Wyoming
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans