First-Time Home Buyers, Military Vets Eligible for $8,000 in Down Payment Help

toy house on a mortgage contract

RALEIGH—More than 17,840 North Carolinians purchased a new home in the past five years thanks to the NC Housing Finance Agency’s NC Home Advantage Mortgage™, which offers first-time and move-up buyers competitive rates and  down payment assistance up to 5 percent of the loan amount. However, a new down payment product may provide an even better option for first-time buyers and military veterans who qualify for the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™. The new NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment offers $8,000 in down payment help to qualified buyers, delivering just the boost that buyers may need to buy a home that they can afford.

“We believe this new down payment assistance product will help even more North Carolinians achieve home ownership and set themselves and their families up to be successful long-term homeowners,” said Scott Farmer, executive director of the NC Housing Finance Agency.

Similar to other options offered with the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™, the new NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment is structured as a 0 percent, deferred second mortgage that is forgiven at a rate of 20 percent per year beginning at year 11. After year 15 of the loan, the down payment help is fully forgiven.

Eligible buyers must:

  • Be a first-time buyer (someone who hasn’t owned a home as a principal residence in the past three years) or military veteran or buying a home in a targeted census tract
  • Meet income and sales price limits
  • Be purchasing a home in North Carolina
  • Occupy the home as a principal residence within 60 days of closing
  • Have a credit score of 640 or higher
  • Be a permanent legal resident of the United States.

Eligible properties include single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and new manufactured homes.

NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ products are offered by the NC Housing Finance Agency through participating lenders statewide. To find a lender or learn more about the new NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment, the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ and the other ways that the Agency helps make home ownership affordable for North Carolinians, consumers should visit www.nchfa.com/home-buyers.

The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, a self-supporting public agency, has financed 269,000 homes and apartments since its creation in 1973.