Home Loan Made Simple
Published by Peoples Mortgage Lending, LLC NMLS #2006097 · Equal Housing Lender

Down payment help, explained correctly

Georgia and Ohio both run programs that put $10,000 or more toward a first home. The rules are public, specific, and almost universally misreported online. We read the agency documents and publish what they actually say.

Verified against agency sources · 1 November 2026

Start with your state

Georgia

Georgia Dream

Up to $12,500 toward your down payment as a 0% deferred second mortgage. Three tiers, with extra assistance for protectors, educators, nurses and households including a person with a disability.

See the requirements → Ohio

OHFA assistance

3% to 3.5% of the purchase price, forgiven after seven years. Income and price limits differ in every one of Ohio's 88 counties — look up yours.

Look up your county →

Why another guide to this

Because the ones that exist disagree with each other, and most of them are wrong.

Search for the Georgia Dream income limit and the first page of results will tell you it is $79,000, $82,800, $99,360, $130,290 and $137,555. Those are five different answers to one question, all published confidently, several of them sitting on page one at the same time.

The same thing happens in Ohio. Guides report down payment assistance as 2.5% and 5%, which is what OHFA's printed flyer said before it was superseded — that flyer was last revised in December 2022 and is still circulating. The current figures on OHFA's own program page are 3% and 3.5%.

What we do Read the lender matrices and limit tables the agencies publish for the people who originate these loans, and report those numbers.
What you see Every figure carries the document it came from, that document's version, and the date we last checked it.
What we withhold If we cannot tie a number to a source, we leave it out rather than guess. A missing figure is better than a wrong one.

Things worth knowing before you apply

Veterans skip the first-time rule
Georgia Dream waives the first-time buyer requirement for U.S. military veterans who have not previously used bond-financed mortgage assistance. You can have owned a home before and still qualify.
Saving too much can disqualify you
Georgia Dream caps liquid assets after closing at $20,000 or 20% of the sales price. Retirement accounts do not count toward it, but a gift over $5,000 does.
Your whole household's income counts
Both states count income from everyone who will live in the home, including adults who are not on the loan. They do not have to be first-time buyers themselves, but their income still counts against the limit.
Your county sets the ceiling, not your state
Ohio's income limit runs from $98,800 in most counties to $146,700 in Union County — a $47,900 spread. Any guide quoting one statewide number is wrong for almost everyone reading it.
Assistance is a second mortgage, not a gift
Georgia's is deferred at 0% until you sell or refinance. Ohio's is forgiven after seven years, but sell before then and the whole amount comes back.

How this works

Check the limits for your county

Income and purchase price ceilings are set locally. Start on your state's page and find your county before anything else.

Estimate what you would receive

Both state pages compute your assistance from the published rules, so you know the number before you call anyone.

Talk to a licensed loan officer

Only a licensed originator can tell you what you qualify for. These programs are available exclusively through lenders approved by the state housing agency.

Figures on this site come from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. Each state page lists the exact documents and versions used. Reviewed 1 November 2026. Program terms are set by the agencies and can change without notice.