Buying a House with Low Income? Try this!

Whether you’re a first time home buyer or not, buying a house with low income is possible. As affordable housing becomes more expensive and more difficult to find, many low-income Americans are searching for ways to buy their own home. As Low Income Relief reader Star pointed out, “Most (homes) are cheaper than rent!!! My rent is $945. The house I want would be around $700 including insurance.”

Personally, I had the same experience. I was renting a much smaller house for several hundred dollars more per month than I am now paying for my mortgage (including taxes and insurance)!

How to Buy a House with Low Income

It’s important to familiarize yourself with all the options available to you when you’re buying a house with low income. There are many different loan types. Although the standard loan type is known as a “conventional loan,” there are many alternatives that make it easier for low-income home buyers to succeed in their first home purchase.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides mortgage insurance on loans obtained by current and former military members. You can get a VA loan with imperfect credit, no down payment and more! Click here to find out if a VA loan is right for you. 

Dollar Homes are something that many buyers get excited about. These homes are owned by the FHA because the previous owner failed to make payments. As a result, the homes were foreclosed and are now available for very low prices. Learn more about this strange program here.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) provides mortgage insurance on loans throughout the United States and its territories. You can qualify for an FHA loan with credit scores as low as 500 – and there’s no minimum income requirement! Click here to find out if a FHA loan is right for you.

Eagle Home Mortgage offers a specialized mortgage product that can give home buyers with student loan debt up to $13,000 to help pay off their student loans. Find out what the catch is here.

Good Neighbor Next Door can give qualifying buyers a 50% discount on their homes. That’s HALF OFF the biggest purchase most people make in their lives! Find out who qualifies and what you need to do to get this deal here. 

Habitat for Humanity offers low down payments and affordable monthly mortgage payments. You’ll even have the chance to help build your own home! Find out how to get an affordable home from Habitat for Humanity here.

Home Possible is a Freddie Mac mortgage program with low down payments, cancellable mortgage insurance and other benefits. It’s designed for low income home buyers but lacks some of the flexibility of the HomeReady program. We’ll show you the differences.

HomeReady is a Fannie Mae mortgage program with low down payments, cancellable mortgage insurance and low credit requirements. It’s designed exclusively for low income home buyers. Get the details on this great mortgage program now!

Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program provides special home loan guarantees for American Indian and Alaska Native families, villages, tribes or tribal-designated housing entities. Since 1992, they’ve guaranteed over $5 billion in loans! Find out how to get your loan guaranteed! 

United States Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (USDA) offers three excellent programs that help low to moderate income earners purchase, build and repair homes in rural areas. They offer a loan guarantee program, a direct loan program and a home repair program. Get the details on all three programs right here!

Down Payment Assistance Programs

Loftium is no longer accepting down payment assistance applications, according to the representative I spoke to in March 2019.

National Homebuyers Fund provides down payment assistance. These grants do not have to be repaid and can be up to 5 percent of your total mortgage amount. Find out about their two down payment assistance programs here!

NeighborhoodLIFT is a national down payment assistance program that is available in specific cities and areas in the United States. You could receive up to $20,000 toward your down payment from this program!

PenFed Foundation Dream Makers Program provides a two-for-one matching grant. This can provide up to $5,000 toward your down payment and the grant does not have to be repaid!

To qualify, you’ll need to provide at least $500 toward your down payment and you must have an income that does not exceed 80% of the area median income (AMI) where the home is located.

You may be able to find other down payment assistance programs at DownPaymentResource.com. 

Mortgage Payment Assistance Programs

Section 8 Vouchers can be used toward mortgage payments in some areas! This program varies by region and you’ll want to contact your local Public Housing Authority (PHA) for details. Learn more about this exciting program here!

Homebuyer Education Courses

CreditSmart is a free online homebuyer course offered by Freddie Mac. The course will help you understand credit, money management, lenders, home ownership and managing your investment. You’ll be able to print your certificate of completion as soon as you have finished the course. Unfortunately, this program is only available in English.

State-Specific Programs

As always, some of the best assistance programs exist on a local level and are limited to residents of a certain area. Here are some helpful programs we’ve found in various states. If you know of a program we’ve missed, please let us know in the comments!

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana 

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

Nevada

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Washington, D.C.

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

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Nicole Thelin

Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.