Ohio first-time home buyer programs: down payment help and limits

Ohio's main first time home buyer programs come from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), the state's housing agency, through a lender OHFA approves. OHFA can add down payment help of 3% or 3.5% of the price, which you never repay if you keep the home seven years.

You need a credit score of at least 640, or 650 for a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Your income must be under your county's income limit, the most a household can earn and still qualify.

What does OHFA offer?

OHFA offers 30-year mortgages with a fixed interest rate, and extra options you can add to them. OHFA doesn't lend to you itself: you apply through an OHFA-approved lender for one of four kinds of mortgage.

• an FHA loan, insured by the Federal Housing Administration;
• a VA loan, backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans and service members;
• a USDA loan, backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for homes in rural areas;
• a conventional loan, the regular kind that no government agency backs.

The Mortgage Tax Credit takes applications only at certain times, so check its page or ask your lender whether it is open.

How does the down payment help work?

OHFA's down payment help is money toward your down payment, closing costs or other costs before closing, the day you sign the final papers and the home becomes yours. It is forgiven after seven years. Forgiven means you no longer owe it. If you sell the home within seven years, you repay all of it. You make no payments on it while you live there.

A worked example. You buy a $200,000 home with a conventional loan, so the down payment help is 3%, or $6,000. With an FHA loan it would be 3.5%, or $7,000. If you sell in year four, you repay the full amount. If you keep the home past year seven, you owe nothing.

With Grants for Grads, the down payment help is forgiven after five years as long as you stay in Ohio. If you sell and move out of Ohio within five years, you repay some or all of it.

Who qualifies?

You count as a first-time buyer for OHFA's first-time programs in any of three cases:

• you haven't owned a home you lived in at any time in the last three years;
• you are a veteran with an honorable discharge;
• you buy in a target area. Check an address with OHFA's target area search.

A target area is a part of the state where federal tax rules give buyers easier terms on state agency loans like OHFA's. It is either a census tract where at least 70% of families earn 80% or less of the state's median family income, or an area of long-term economic hardship. The state names those areas, and the federal government approves them. If the home is in one, you don't have to be a first-time buyer, and the income and price limits are higher.

You must also meet these rules:

• Credit. A score of 640 or higher for a conventional, USDA or VA loan, and 650 or higher for an FHA loan.
• Debts. Your monthly debts, including the new mortgage, must stay under your loan type's limit as a share of your income. Ask your lender: what debt-to-income limit applies to my loan?
• Income and price. Your income and the home's price must be under OHFA's limits for your county.
• The home. A house, condominium, duplex or building with up to four units that you will live in. The land can be up to two acres inside a city or village, or five acres outside one. New, modular and manufactured homes can qualify too.

What are the income limits?

OHFA sets income limits by county, household size and whether the home is in a target area. They count the income of everyone on the loan who will live in the home. OHFA's limits that took effect July 1, 2026, for homes outside target areas:

Across Ohio, these limits run from $98,800 to $146,700 for one or two people. In a target area they are higher: in Franklin County, for example, $133,800 for one or two people and $156,100 for three or more. Next Home and Grants for Grads use those higher limits everywhere.

OHFA also sets a top home price for each county. Ask your lender for the price limit where you want to buy.

Do you need a homebuyer class?

Yes. At least one person on the loan who will live in the home must take a free class, even with Next Home. You take it after you apply with your lender, and you must finish it before the lender approves your loan. OHFA's class rules accept either of two options:

• OHFA's own online course plus counseling by phone;
• a class of at least four hours from a counseling agency approved by HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It must include time with a counselor by phone or in person.

The certificate must be from the last 12 months. A buyer who uses only Mortgage Tax Credit Basic doesn't need the class. To find an agency, use HUD's counselor finder or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's counselor search. Our guide to the homebuyer education class explains what it covers.

What other help does Ohio have?

Welcome Home Ohio. The Ohio Department of Development gives grants of up to $100,000 per home to nonprofit builders and land banks, county agencies that take over vacant and foreclosed homes. They use the money to buy homes at foreclosure sales, or to fix up or build homes. Then they sell the homes to buyers whose income is no more than 120% of the county's median income, the middle income there.

The buyer must live in the home and can't rent out any part of it for three years, says the program's FAQ. To find these homes, ask your county's land bank and local nonprofit housing groups whether they have Welcome Home Ohio homes for sale.

Ohio Homebuyer Plus. The Ohio Treasurer's program is a savings account with a higher interest rate at participating banks and credit unions. You save in it for a down payment or closing costs on a home in Ohio, and you use the money within five years.

How do you apply, step by step?

1. Find an OHFA-approved lender on OHFA's site, or call OHFA at 1-888-362-6432.
2. Gather your papers. OHFA's checklist asks for your Social Security number and three years of tax returns and W-2 forms, the yearly wage forms from your employer. It also asks for pay stubs and bank statements from the last 30 days.
3. Apply with the lender, then take the class and keep the certificate.
4. Check the limits for your county and loan with your lender.

Before you start, our qualify check shows which homes for sale fit your household's income. See homes for sale in Ohio on our Ohio page.

Watch for scams: the Federal Trade Commission says the government won't contact you out of the blue about a grant. Our guide to first-time home buyer grants lists the warning signs, and our guide to FHA loan requirements covers the FHA loan.