FL Assist: Florida Housing’s interest-free loan for the down payment and closing costs
Nelson Paredes · REALTOR® · One Stop Realty Center Inc
Updated October 20, 2026
Up to $10,000
No pause notice — checked October 20, 2026. The rates to reserve this assistance, on Florida Housing’s page for lenders, carry the date of each business day. The official terms do not say how much money is left. Whether your case receives it is confirmed by the lender handling your purchase. Official source.
The most the program gives as a loan, not what each person receives.
The figures and requirements come from Florida Housing’s term sheet, checked on October 14, 2026. The status above comes from the last time we read the official source, with its date.
- How much: up to $10,000 as a loan for the down payment and the costs of the day you sign for the home.
- How it works: It is a loan with no interest and you pay nothing each month, but it is not forgiven: you pay it all back when you sell the home, put it in someone else’s name, replace your loan with a new one or stop living in it. The term is 30 years.
- Who: first-time buyers whose household does not earn more than the income limit (it is in the table below) and who buy a home within the maximum price.
- How to apply: through a lender that works with Florida Housing, together with your purchase loan.
Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Florida’s state housing agency, gives up to $10,000 as a loan for the down payment and the costs of the day you sign for the home. Those costs are also called closing costs. What your case receives is confirmed by the lender handling your purchase.
It is a loan with no interest and you pay nothing each month, but it is not forgiven: you pay it all back when you sell the home, put it in someone else’s name, replace your loan with a new one or stop living in it. The term is 30 years.
It is assistance for first-time buyers. It comes from the state, not from a city or a county, and these are the income limits for Miami-Dade and Broward:
People in your household Miami-Dade Broward 1 $136,200 $126,800 2 $136,200 $126,800 3 $156,630 $145,820 4 $156,630 $145,820 5 $156,630 $145,820 6 or more $156,630 $145,820 Home price: up to $697,889, in Miami-Dade and in Broward.
This is what the assistance also asks for, and that we do not ask you. Your lender confirms it with you:
- Your credit score has to be 640 or higher.
- You have to take a homebuyer course approved by the federal government before you sign for the home.
- If your loan is a government-backed one (the 3.5%-down loan, the veterans loan or the rural loan), you have to be a permanent resident. With a regular bank loan, living here legally is enough.
- You can only use one Florida Housing purchase assistance in your whole life, so you must not have used one before.
- The income limit can change depending on the type of loan you get; your lender tells you which one applies to you.
- If you buy in an area the federal government marks as a priority, the income and price limits are higher.
- 1Check whether this assistance is the right one for youCompare your household income and the price of the home with the limits above. If you are unsure between this one and another, the assistance finder compares them using your numbers before you talk to a lender.See which programs could fit
- 2Talk to a lender that works with Florida HousingThe assistance is requested through the lender, together with your purchase loan. The lender reviews your whole case (your credit, your income and the home), tells you whether this assistance fits and which income limit applies to you.
- 3The lender reserves the assistanceWhen your case is ready, the lender asks for the assistance to be set aside for your purchase: that is called reserving it. That is why the status on the card above matters: it can only be reserved while Florida Housing has it open.
- 4Take the homebuyer course before you signIt is a course approved by the federal government and it comes before you sign for the home. Get to the signing with the course already done.
It does not stack with another state assistance. It can be added to a county or city one, if that one allows it.
The other state assistance programs we have in the finder are the loan with a small monthly payment (FL HLP), the one for people who work in health care, schools or law enforcement (Hometown Heroes) and the one that is forgiven little by little (HFA Plus). It does not stack with any of them.
In the assistance finder you can compare this one with others in Miami-Dade and Broward, including the county and city programs. The Down Payment Assistance Tracker shows each program’s status with the date we checked it. This guide explains the assistance, but it does not replace your lender’s review of your case.
How much does FL Assist give? It gives up to $10,000 as a loan for the down payment and the costs of the day you sign for the home. That is the program’s maximum; the amount in your case is confirmed by the lender handling your purchase.
Do I have to pay it back? Yes. It is a loan with no interest and you pay nothing each month, but it is not forgiven: you pay it all back when you sell the home, put it in someone else’s name, replace your loan with a new one or stop living in it. The term is 30 years.
Do I have to be a first-time buyer? What is the income limit? Yes, the assistance is for first-time buyers: no home owned in the last 3 years. It is not required if you are a veteran or buy in an area the federal government marks as a priority. The income limit depends on how many people live in your household (it is in the table under “Who can apply”), it can change depending on the type of loan you get, and it is higher in those priority areas. Your lender tells you the one that applies to you.
Is it open today? Is there money left? Look at the card above: it says where the assistance stands and the day we checked it. The official terms do not say how much money is left.
What credit score do I need? Do I have to take a course? Both are in the list under “Who can apply”: the minimum credit score and the homebuyer course approved by the federal government. Your lender confirms them with you, because they check them in your case.
Figures and requirements checked on October 14, 2026 against Florida Housing’s standard programs term sheet. Public program terms can change without notice: always confirm with your lender or with Florida Housing Finance Corporation before applying. This guide orients you, it does not advise you.
