Ohio first-time homebuyer grants and down payment assistance (2026)

Who counts as a first-time buyer under OHFA’s three paths

OHFA’s First-Time Homebuyer program covers a buyer with no ownership interest in a principal residence during the three years before the mortgage is signed. Two groups are exempt from that test: honorably discharged veterans, even if they owned before, and buyers of a home in a designated target-area census tract, which you can check at ohiohome.org/geodata ⁠¹. Two other paths sit beside it ⁠¹:

• FTHB Edge. For first-time buyers in a non-target area whose income is above the standard limit but within the higher target-area limit. The rate can be higher.
• Next Home. For buyers who do not meet the first-time test. It allows the same Down Payment Assistance but not Grants for Grads or the Mortgage Tax Credit. Rates can be slightly higher, and still owning your current home may affect income eligibility ⁠¹⁠¹⁰.

For income, OHFA counts everyone who will both live in the home and sign the note. You must move in within 60 days of closing and live there at least one year unless you sell in the first year ⁠¹.

How OHFA’s 3% or 3.5% second loan is forgiven

OHFA sizes the assistance at exactly 3.5% of the purchase price on government loans and 3% on conventional loans, rounded down to the dollar. It is reserved automatically when your lender reserves the first mortgage ⁠¹⁠². On a $180,000 FHA purchase that is $6,300. The money can cover the down payment, closing costs, prepaid items and program fees. The lender advances it at closing, and OHFA holds a second mortgage ⁠¹.

• Standard DPA (First-Time, FTHB Edge, Next Home, Ohio Heroes). A seven-year second loan with no interest and no payments. If you sell or refinance in the first seven years, you repay the full amount. OHFA will not subordinate it to a refinance. On the seventh anniversary of the note it is forgiven and the lien is released ⁠¹.
• Grants for Grads. A five-year second loan forgiven 20% a year. If you sell before year five and document that you will keep living in Ohio, OHFA forgives the rest. If you refinance, OHFA will subordinate ⁠¹.

You cannot take cash back except reimbursement of fees you overpaid, such as earnest money or an appraisal. On a government loan, up to $1,000 of any leftover can be applied to the first-mortgage principal ⁠¹. The only fee allowed on the second loan is the recording fee ⁠¹.

Grants for Grads requires an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or other graduate degree from an accredited school within 18 months of the reservation date. It also requires a one-unit home. It uses the higher FTHB Edge and Next Home income limits ⁠¹⁠⁴. Ohio Heroes gives a discounted rate to veterans, active and reserve military and surviving spouses. It also covers full-time police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics, volunteer firefighters with 12 months of service, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, RNs, LPNs, state-licensed STNAs, CNAs and PCAs, and licensed pre-K-12 teachers, counselors and administrators. Corrections officers qualify only as deputy sheriffs ⁠¹⁠⁵.

The Mortgage Tax Credit in its Plus and Basic forms

OHFA’s Mortgage Tax Credit is a mortgage credit certificate: a non-refundable federal credit, not cash at closing. You need federal tax liability to use it ⁠⁶.

• MTC Plus comes with an OHFA first mortgage. It pays a credit of 40% of mortgage interest, capped at $2,000 a year, with or without Down Payment Assistance. The rate can be slightly higher, and OHFA charges a $250 loan fee ⁠¹⁠⁶.
• MTC Basic pairs with another lender’s mortgage. The credit is 20% in a target area and 15% elsewhere. It has no credit score minimum and no education requirement ⁠⁶.

Both versions require first-time status. If you sell within nine years at a profit and your income has risen past the IRS threshold, you may owe recapture tax. OHFA reimburses the amount actually paid ⁠¹. OHFA paused new MTC applications on May 13, 2026 and expected to reopen July 1. Its August 2026 page no longer showed that notice ⁠⁶.

Ohio’s county limits: three income tiers and metro price caps

OHFA’s most recent table that could be opened for this guide took effect July 1, 2025. OHFA posts a new one each July, so ask your lender which table applies to your reservation ⁠⁷. Each county has three income figures. The non-target limit applies to standard OHFA loans and both MTCs. The target-area limit is higher. A separate column for FTHB Edge, Next Home and Grants for Grads uses the same figures as the target limit ⁠⁷.

Purchase price caps, new and existing homes: $544,233 for a one-family home in non-target areas statewide. The exception is the 10-county Columbus area (Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, Union), where the cap is $590,976. Target-area caps are $665,173 and $722,304. Two- to four-unit caps run to $1,389,032 ⁠⁷.

Credit scores, DTI caps and OHFA’s four-hour education rule

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Manual underwriting on government loans is allowed only for thin or missing credit files and certain FHA downgrades. It is capped at 31%/43% for FHA, 41% for VA and 29%/41% for USDA ⁠¹⁠². OHFA itself requires no minimum cash investment beyond what FHA, VA or USDA require. Lenders may charge up to a 1% origination fee plus a $475 funding fee, an $84 tax service fee and OHFA’s $100 administration fee ⁠¹.

At least one owner-occupant borrower, including Next Home buyers, needs a homebuyer education certificate before commitment approval. It can come from a HUD-approved counseling agency, issued within 12 months, at least 4 hours long and including phone or in-person contact with a counselor. OHFA’s free streamlined online-and-phone course also counts ⁠¹⁠⁸. You can only finish OHFA’s course after your loan officer has submitted your application ⁠³.

Columbus, Toledo and Cuyahoga County programs

• Columbus, ADDI. A deferred loan of up to 6% of the price, maximum $14,999, forgiven after five years in the home. Buyers must be first-time (no home in 36 months), at or below 120% of AMI, Ohio residents for six months, and within 35%/45% DTI. The home must be inside city limits, and buyers need a city-certified lender and education from a Housing Division HUD-certified agency. Applications closed Aug. 8, 2026, and new ones go on a waitlist ⁠¹².
• Toledo, Home at Last. A grant paid at closing: up to $12,500, or up to $20,000 in Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas. Buyers must be at or below 80% of AMI, own no home in three years, and put in $500, including the inspection. The home must be a single-family house or condo inside city limits, and it must pass a lead risk assessment and city inspection ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴. In 2025 the city helped 35 buyers, with average aid of $7,540 on an average $117,775 home, and processed applications in 21 days or less ⁠¹⁴.
• Cuyahoga County Down Payment Assistance Program. Up to 10% of the price, maximum $20,900, for buyers at or below 80% of AMI who have not owned in three years. It covers the county’s 51 urban-county communities, which excludes Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid and Lakewood. Free CHN Housing Partners classes are required. Believe Mortgage administers it, and Parma has a matching program. This is the September 2025 announcement; 2026 funding could not be confirmed ⁠¹⁵.

The Ohio Treasurer’s Ohio Homebuyer Plus account is a way to save, not assistance. Adults who live in Ohio can hold up to $100,000 at a participating bank at a premium rate (2.96% as listed on Oct. 20, 2026, updated quarterly). The money must go to an Ohio down payment or closing costs within five years. Contributions may be deductible on Ohio income tax ⁠¹¹.

Getting an OHFA loan through a participating lender

1. Check your county’s limits

   Find your county’s row in OHFA’s table, and check whether the address is in a target tract ⁠⁷.

2. Pick an OHFA-approved lender

   Search the list on My Ohio Home or call 888.362.6432. OHFA does not take applications itself ⁠⁹.

3. Bring the borrower checklist

   You need your Social Security number, three years of tax returns and W-2s, 30 days of pay stubs and bank statements, any bankruptcy or divorce papers, and the purchase contract. Grants for Grads buyers add proof of their degree, and Ohio Heroes buyers add a pay stub, license or DD-214 ⁠¹⁠⁸.

4. Apply after your offer is accepted

   The lender reserves the loan in OHFA’s Lender Online system, which locks the rate for 70 days and reserves the DPA ⁠¹⁠⁹.

5. Finish education

   Complete it after the application and before commitment approval ⁠¹.

6. Clear OHFA compliance

   The lender sends OHFA a compliance package within 25 days of reservation. Closing usually follows 30 to 45 days after the application ⁠¹⁠⁹.

7. Close and keep the second-mortgage note

   You will need it if you sell or refinance within seven years ⁠¹.

If a lender declines you, another OHFA lender can review the file, but a cancelled reservation cannot be re-reserved for the same buyer and property for 60 days ⁠¹. Compare other states on the first-time homebuyer grants page or see more Ohio guides on the Ohio page.