Current down payment assistance guidelines, updated from one source.
The current program figures below are hydrated from Lendmire’s down payment assistance standards source at each visit, so the options shown for Seattle, WA are the options in force.
Of the purchase price
Assistance is sized as a share of the price, never a fixed sum: the biggest option covers the down payment and reaches closing costs, the smaller ones cover the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment.
Covers the whole FHA down payment
The FHA minimum down payment is 3.5%, and this option covers all of it with no interest and no monthly payment; it is forgiven after 36 on-time payments on your first mortgage.
On every option offered here
Every option offered in Washington is open regardless of income, so there is no ceiling to stay under; the file is placed on the price, the credit score, and the home.
Credit score to start
The score that opens the forgivable options; the repayable options start a step higher. Two-borrower files may use a blended score on the second-lien options.
| Option | Assistance | What you repay | Credit · mortgage · 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 · five options offered in Washington · 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.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs in Seattle, WA 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 Washington.
Assistance covers the FHA down payment
The gap the program closes for a Seattle 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
For a Seattle buyer the choice is about cost to carry. The forgivable options cost nothing if the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period; the repayable option is a second loan with its own disclosure and a balloon that reaches closing costs.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
Two-borrower files can qualify on a blended score on the second-lien options when the higher earner has the higher score and an automated approval is in hand; every borrower still needs a score of their own.
Eligibility without a first-time-buyer rule
No option requires a first-time buyer, and no option carries an income limit beyond the first lien’s own rules; a Seattle buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
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 Seattle’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census housing and income data describe who buys in Seattle, WA and what it costs to get in; a lender reads those figures as context for the first lien, not as underwriting inputs.
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. 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 Seattle submarkets, distinct property rules.
Across Seattle’s condominiums, townhomes, and older neighborhoods close to work, the same program produces different closings because prices, property types, and first liens differ block by block.
Condominiums close to work
In Seattle, a condominium near the job is the first home many buyers can reach; the program pairs with it as long as the project clears FHA review, and the assistance covers the minimum investment the same way it would on a house. Seattle counts a population near 754K within the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Seattle 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 Seattle’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $32,900 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
The older streets of Seattle 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 Seattle is about $2,030 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Townhomes and attached homes
In Seattle, 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Seattle runs near $938,600 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes, owner-occupied
A buyer who lives in one unit of a Seattle 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. Median household income in Seattle sits near $123,860 on the latest Census estimate.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in Seattle pair with the assistance as long as the property is the buyer’s primary residence and the first lien is a government program. About 56% of Seattle’s households rent — roughly 204,521 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
None of this is a valuation or an approval; it is the backdrop a Seattle file is read against before the first lien and the option decide the numbers.
Four ways Seattle buyers put down payment assistance to work.
Down payment assistance in Seattle, WA is used for more than a first purchase; these are the structures Seattle buyers ask about most.
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 Seattle, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
Renovation purchases in Seattle, WA qualify for the assistance on the price before repairs, so the down payment help and the repair budget close together.
Cover closing costs too on the larger option
The larger option exists for the Seattle, WA closing where the down payment is only half the problem: it carries the minimum investment and a further share for costs.
Cover the costs of an FHA refinance
Owners in Seattle 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.
Size the assistance on a Seattle price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Seattle purchase price, choose an assistance option offered in Washington, 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.
Seattle FHA payment with assistance
A Seattle 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 Seattle’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA first lien is realistic), the strongest assistance option offered in Washington applied against the FHA minimum investment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Washington (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.
Same Seattle buyer, four closings: assistance on an FHA loan, the buyer’s own minimum investment, assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan, or a gift from family.
Assistance on a government loan, saving the minimum, or a gift.
The structure for a Seattle 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 Seattle, WA 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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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 Seattle file clean and fundable.
A clean Seattle file starts with the option chosen, the first lien matched to the property, and the homebuyer education course completed where it is required.
- Know the option: confirm the option is offered in the state.
- Understand the clock: keep the first lien current through the forgiveness period.
- Confirm the property: check the unit count against the option’s limit.
The option decides what you owe afterward
A forgivable second lien costs nothing if the first lien stays current through the forgiveness period; a repayable second lien is a loan with a balloon that reaches closing costs. A Seattle buyer chooses by cost to carry first and by amount second.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
The clock starts at closing and runs with the first lien’s payments; a Seattle buyer who plans to sell or refinance inside the period should expect the second lien to be paid at that point, since it is not resubordinated.
Property type and unit count select the option
The property itself can move a Seattle, WA file: a fourplex, a single-width manufactured home, or an unapproved condominium project each changes which option can attach, so the address is read before the option is promised.
No stacking with other assistance
A Seattle buyer eligible for a local or employer program chooses between it and these options; they do not stack, so the comparison is made program against program before the contract is signed.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
A Seattle, WA 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.
From a Seattle pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
Lendmire runs a Seattle assistance file in a set order: pick the option, match the first lien, clear the property, close both liens together.
Pick the option
The first step is the option: which ones the credit opens, which the first lien allows, and which costs the least to carry for a Seattle, WA buyer — settled before anything is ordered.
Get the mortgage approved
Lendmire packages the Seattle 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 Seattle, WA 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
Final underwriting reads the whole Seattle, WA 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.
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
Lendmire reads the options offered in Washington against a Seattle buyer’s credit, first lien, property, and category before anything is ordered, and names the fit by cost to carry.
The mortgage, matched to the property
FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 is chosen with the Seattle 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
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.
Seattle down payment assistance FAQs
Straight answers for Seattle buyers weighing down payment assistance; the mortgage approval and the option’s rules decide every actual figure.
Do I have to be a first-time homebuyer?
No option requires it. First-time status is not a rule of the program in Washington; the options open on the credit tier, the first-lien program, and the property.
Is there an income limit?
There is no income limit on the forgivable or repayable options; the first lien’s rules are the only income test a Seattle buyer meets.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Seattle?
Assistance measured as a percentage of the price, in shapes that differ by what you owe afterward: nothing if the first lien stays current, or a second loan with a balloon. Credit, the first lien, and the property decide which fits.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
For a Seattle buyer, a forgivable second lien — it costs nothing to carry as long as the first lien stays current through the period; the options table on this page shows what each option costs to carry.
What credit score do I need?
A Seattle buyer’s credit tier decides which options are open — the options table on this page shows the floor for every option offered in Washington.
Can I use the assistance on a second home or a rental?
The assistance is for the home you live in; rentals and second homes are financed other ways.
Is there an option for refinancing?
The refinance-cost option covers the costs of an FHA refinance with a repayable second lien, at its own credit floor and combined-leverage limit.
Can I buy a duplex or a fourplex with assistance?
Owner-occupied small multi-unit homes qualify, with the unit count deciding the option; a Seattle buyer living in one unit of a fourplex uses the option that reaches four.
What is the repayable option and when does it make sense?
It is a loan — the only purchase option with a payment — in exchange for covering the most. A Seattle buyer chooses it for the closing-cost coverage or the high-balance pairing.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
One option, one first lien, one closing — no combination with other assistance.
Place your Seattle purchase on the right option today.
No credit pull, no commitment: an initial review places your Seattle purchase on the right option and tells you what to gather.
This guide covers Seattle — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Washington, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Also in Washington: Shoreline · Renton · Lacey · Port Orchard · FHA Loans · USDA Loans