Florida Hometown Heroes
Down Payment Assistanceup to $35,000

Yes. Hometown Heroes is limited to healthcare workers, K–12 school staff, first responders, public safety and court employees, and childcare workers — plus military servicemembers and veterans, who are exempt from the occupation list and can work for any Florida-based employer. Eligibility hinges on who your employer is, not just your title, and only one occupying borrower needs to qualify. The published lists are examples rather than a complete set, so if your role is not named it is still worth asking.

No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is doing you a disservice. Hometown Heroes assistance is a repayable second mortgage — it is not a grant and it is not forgiven. What makes it powerful is the terms: 0% interest, no monthly payment, and deferred for 30 years. The balance becomes due when you sell, refinance, transfer the home, or it stops being your primary residence.

Assistance is 5% of your first mortgage amount, with a $35,000 maximum and a $10,000 minimum. Using Florida Housing’s own example: a $400,000 purchase with 97% conventional financing produces a $388,000 first mortgage, and 5% of that is $19,400 in assistance. Funds are subject to availability, and the reservation amount issued through the state’s portal is what controls.

Generally you must not have held an ownership interest in a primary residence during the past three years, unless you qualify for an exemption. Which people get tested and which exemptions apply depends on how your file is structured — active military, Reserve, and Guard members may be exempt under one financing lane but not the other. If you have owned before, it is still worth a conversation rather than an assumption.

Remote work is not eligible. The program requires full-time employment at a physical Florida work location, supported by a verification of employment, paystub, or employer letter showing the actual address. Hybrid arrangements may work if you can document the specific Florida location you report to. Also note that only one occupying borrower needs to meet the employment test.

With an automated underwriting approval, the minimum credit score is 640 and the maximum debt-to-income ratio is 50%. Manually underwritten files require a 660 score and a 43% DTI, subject to the applicable investor matrix. Because the assistance carries no monthly payment, it does not add a payment to your DTI calculation.

No. Hometown Heroes is for the purchase of a primary residence only. Refinances, second homes, and investment properties are all excluded. The funds also cannot be applied to an appraisal gap, a debt payoff, or realtor commission, and no excess funds come back to you as cash.

Income limits are set by Florida Housing and vary by county. Most counties sit at a floor of about $148,050, rising in higher-cost areas — roughly $204,300 in Miami-Dade, $190,200 in Broward, $192,750 in Palm Beach, $172,350 across Orange, Osceola and Seminole, and $214,950 in Monroe. USDA loans use much lower limits. Which income counts also depends on your financing lane: one counts every occupant 18 and older, the other counts borrower income only.

On purchase price, there is a common misconception — the Hometown Heroes TBA program has no purchase price limit, only maximum loan limits by county and loan type. Because these figures change by cycle, I pull the live numbers for your county and household size rather than quoting from memory.

Genuinely urgent, for a structural reason rather than a sales one. The 2026 cycle opened with $50 million and had over $35 million remaining as of late August 2026. The previous cycle opened in August 2025 and was fully committed within about six months, having served more than 3,000 families — so the funds do run out. Reservations are first come, first served through participating lenders.

Once your funds are reserved the delivery clock starts: underwriting certification and the purchase target fall around day 60, and a loan not purchased by day 91 is cancelled. One 30-day extension may be available at a cost, but it is a backup, not a plan. The practical takeaway is to get documented before you start house-hunting.

They are two financing lanes that do not qualify a file the same way. TBA counts only borrower income, allows higher income limits, has no recapture tax, and generally needs just the final loan application to document first-time buyer status. Bond counts every household member 18 and older, uses lower income limits split by household size, may carry a recapture tax, and requires three years of tax returns or transcripts. Active military are exempt from the first-time buyer rule under TBA but not under Bond. Picking the right lane before pricing protects your approval.

Yes. The assistance pairs with FHA, VA, and USDA-RD government loans, or with Freddie Mac HFA Advantage conventional financing — all 30-year fixed. Borrowers at or below 80% of area median income get a lower rate and reduced-cost mortgage insurance on the conventional option. The Hometown Heroes first mortgage rate is also below Florida Housing’s standard program rates.

No. Only one occupying borrower needs to meet the employment or service test. If your spouse is a nurse and you are not in an eligible field, the household can still qualify. Note that under the Bond lane a non-purchasing spouse is still tested for first-time buyer status, which is one more reason the lane choice matters.

Possibly. Self-employed borrowers may qualify if they are contracted by an eligible Florida-based employer, documented with 1099s plus a CPA confirmation of full-time status. Because this is more document-intensive than W-2 employment, it is worth reviewing your specific arrangement early rather than at underwriting.

No. There is no cost to apply for Hometown Heroes down payment assistance. Florida Housing asks that anyone charging a fee to access the program be reported to its Inspector General at (850) 488-4197. Standard, customary loan origination and closing fees still apply to your mortgage, and origination is capped for this program.

Other agencies’ down payment assistance can be layered, but it must be a stand-alone program taking third lien position behind Florida Housing’s second mortgage. Hometown Heroes assistance is never available on its own — it only comes with a Florida Housing first mortgage, through an approved participating lender.

Yes. One occupying borrower must complete a program-approved pre-purchase course — taken before closing, since post-closing education is not accepted. It can be in person or online, must meet HUD or National Industry Standards, and the certificate stays valid for two years. Approved options include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac CreditSmart, eHomeAmerica, and any HUD-approved counseling course. Veterans and servicemembers are generally exempt on government loans, though conventional HFA Advantage financing still requires it. I will point you to the current list at the start so it never becomes the item holding up your closing.