Mortgage and Downpayment Assistance Available for Dakota County Homebuyers
Update: The First Time Homebuyer Program is currently suspended with no funds available for first mortgages or down payment assistance. We do not know if/when there will be funding for this program. Please check back here regularly for any further updates. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact 651-675-4465.
If you’re a first time homebuyer or if you haven’t owned a home in three years, you can apply to the Dakota County CDA’s First Time Homebuyer Program to assist with your purchase. The program provides competitive fixed interest rate first mortgage financing, along with $8,500 in downpayment and closing cost assistance and an annual tax credit of up to $2,000.
Program details:
- First time homebuyers – or households that have not owned a home in the last three years – can use this financing with 30-year FHA, VA, and conventional mortgages.
- Veterans are eligible for this program even if they are not first time homebuyers, as long as they have not used a similar program to purchase a home in the past.
- Single family homes, townhomes and condominiums in Dakota County are eligible, with a maximum purchase price of $304,050.
- Current income limits are $94,300 for a one or two-person household and $108,400 for a three or more person household.
In addition to the the first mortgage financing, homebuyers can elect to receive a Mortgage Credit Certificate. This certificate provides a Federal income tax credit of up to $2,000 each year the homebuyer lives in their home.
Downpayment and closing cost assistance loans of $8,500 are also available. These loans feature zero percent interest and payments are deferred until the first mortgage is paid off or refinanced, or the home is sold.
How to Apply
The CDA has a network of local loan officers that are trained to offer the CDA’s First Time Homebuyer Program. Interested homebuyers must contact one of the participating lenders to learn if they qualify for a mortgage and to complete the loan process. The list of participating lenders is available online at www.dakotacda.org.
Homebuyer Education & Pre-Purchase Assistance
Homebuyers using the First Time Homebuyer Program are required complete an approved homebuyer education course before closing on their loan. The Dakota County CDA offers monthly Home Stretch® homebuyer education workshops to learn about the home buying process – from financing through inspection – with industry professionals.
Framework™ is an online homebuyer education program that will satisfy the education requirement for the First Time Homebuyer Program, but also requires that homebuyers also complete a pre-purchase advising appointment.
All homebuyers can schedule a free one-on-one pre-purchase advising appointment with a CDA certified homeownership specialist to discuss their home buying needs, from identifying mortgage products to budgeting and credit repair.
Additional information about these homebuying resources can be found by following the link below to the First Time Homebuyer Program page or by calling 651-675-4472.