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
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 or 60 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.
Down payment assistance options are consumer mortgage programs arranged through select wholesale lenders, licensed in sixteen states, paired with FHA, USDA, or HUD-184 first liens. Assistance is stated as a percentage of price or value, never as a dollar figure a specific borrower would receive; the forgivable and repayable options are second liens with their own disclosures. Eligibility depends on the first lien’s approval, the option’s rules, the property, and full underwriting, subject to lender program eligibility. The calculator’s rate is an editable market benchmark, not a quote, and its payment is an illustrative estimate; no fee or lender identity appears on this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker and never the lender, and is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, VA, USDA, HUD, or the federal government. Lendmire, LLC — NMLS #2371349. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What down payment assistance is — and how the options differ.
The first-time home buyer programs in Yakima, 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
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.
Three shapes: forgivable, repayable, refinance
For a Yakima 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, and it reaches closing costs.
Credit floors, mortgage programs, and unit counts
A Yakima 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 Washington.
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 Yakima buyer who has owned before qualifies on credit, first lien, and property alone.
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 Yakima’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how the assistance fits.
Census housing and income data describe who buys in Yakima, WA 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 Yakima submarkets, distinct property rules.
Across Yakima’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.
New construction and infill
Infill and new-build homes in Yakima pair with the assistance as long as the property is the buyer’s primary residence and the first lien is a government program. About 46% of Yakima’s households rent — roughly 16,489 renter households, the pool the program exists for.
Manufactured homes on owned land
For Yakima 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 Yakima’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $10,400 — the figure the assistance is built to cover.
Townhomes and attached homes
The townhome rows of Yakima 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 household income in Yakima sits near $62,815 on the latest Census estimate.
Older neighborhoods and renovation loans
Renovation purchases in Yakima 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 Yakima runs near $297,600 on the latest Census estimate.
Small multi-unit homes, owner-occupied
In Yakima, owner-occupied small multi-unit buildings qualify for assistance when the buyer lives in one of the units, up to two units on a purchase; the unit count decides which option applies. Median gross rent in Yakima is about $1,117 a month — the payment many renters already carry.
Condominiums close to work
Condominiums are often the entry point in Yakima, 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. Yakima itself counts a population near 97K.
Submarket descriptions are general market context; the first lien’s approval, the option’s rules, and full underwriting decide every figure in a file.
Four ways Yakima buyers put down payment assistance to work.
The same assistance serves several purposes in Yakima, WA; four of the most common are below.
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 Yakima, forgivable or repayable by the buyer’s choice and credit profile.
Buy a home that needs work with a renovation mortgage
For an older Yakima home, the renovation first lien and the assistance fit together, with the assistance measured on the purchase price rather than the repaired value.
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 Yakima, WA reaches both; the balance above the minimum investment goes toward the closing.
Buy a first home with the down payment covered
A Yakima buyer with the income for the payment but not the cash to close uses the assistance to cover the FHA minimum investment, forgiven in as little as three years, and keeps savings for the move.
Size the assistance on a Yakima price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Yakima 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.
Yakima FHA payment with assistance
Illustrative Yakima inputs; the calculator recalculates on every change.
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 $300,000 price near Yakima’s median owner-occupied home value, 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, three very different closings.
Same Yakima buyer, three closings: assistance on an FHA loan, the buyer’s own minimum investment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
Assistance on an FHA loan, your own down payment, or assistance on a USDA or HUD-184 loan.
The structure for a Yakima 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 Yakima, 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.
USDA and HUD-184 first liens pair with the forgivable options and the ten-year repayable option on a Yakima, WA file; the separate closing-cost option is FHA only. 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 Yakima 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 Yakima assistance file before the option is confirmed; each one can move the structure.
Use these checks to keep the Yakima file clean and fundable.
The checks below keep a Yakima assistance file on track, and each one comes from the option’s own terms rather than from a lender’s preference.
- Know the option: read the second lien as the loan it is.
- Understand the clock: keep the first lien current through the forgiveness period.
- Match the first lien: check the price against the county loan limit.
The option decides what you owe afterward
The same minimum investment can be covered two ways in Yakima, WA, and the difference is entirely in what happens after closing: nothing if the first lien stays current, or a second loan that comes due; the options table shows what is offered.
The forgiveness clock on the forgivable options
The clock starts at closing and runs with the first lien’s payments; a Yakima 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.
The mortgage and the county loan limit
A Yakima 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.
Blended scores for two-borrower files
On the second-lien options, two occupying borrowers can qualify on the average of their representative scores when the higher earner has the higher score; the loan must carry an automated approval, and every borrower still needs a score.
Property type and unit count select the option
The property itself can move a Yakima, 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.
From a Yakima pre-approval to keys with the assistance in place.
The process for a Yakima, WA purchase with assistance is deliberate, because the details around the assistance are what stall closings.
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 Yakima, WA buyer — settled before anything is ordered.
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 Yakima 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.
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
Lendmire reads the options offered in Washington against a Yakima 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
A Yakima 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
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.
Yakima down payment assistance FAQs
The questions a Yakima, WA buyer asks before requesting an assistance review, answered plainly.
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?
No. The options offered in Washington carry no income limit beyond the first lien’s own rules; a USDA first lien has its own limits, and an FHA or HUD-184 first lien has none.
What first-time home buyer programs are available in Yakima?
Three shapes paired with a government first lien: 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 Washington.
Do I have to pay the assistance back?
It depends on the shape a Yakima buyer takes: a forgivable second lien costs nothing to carry as long as the first lien stays current through the period and is then released, while a repayable second lien is repaid on a thirty-year amortization with a ten-year balloon; the options table on this page shows what each option costs to carry.
What credit score do I need?
Lower than most buyers expect: the entry floor for a Yakima buyer sits in the low six hundreds, with the repayable options a step above the forgivable ones. Two-borrower files may qualify on a blended score on the second lien when the higher earner has the higher score.
What does Lendmire do on a Yakima first-time home buyer file?
Reads the options offered in Washington 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.
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 Yakima, WA buyer living in one unit of a two-unit home uses a second-lien option, which reaches two; no purchase option here reaches a fourplex.
Can the assistance cover closing costs too?
The larger repayable option reaches closing costs; the others stop at the down payment. A Yakima buyer short on both uses the larger option.
Can I combine this with another assistance program?
One option, one first lien, one closing — no combination with other assistance.
What property types are eligible?
A Yakima home that the first lien accepts and the option’s property rules allow; the property side is checked before the option is confirmed.
Place your Yakima purchase on the right option today.
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 Yakima — for the statewide options, categories, and property rules, see Down Payment Assistance in Washington, part of Lendmire’s down payment assistance program.
Nearby markets in Washington: East Wenatchee · Wenatchee · Richland · Leavenworth · Kennewick · Pasco · Chelan · Auburn
Related programs: FHA Loans · USDA Loans · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans