US state housing agency loans: California, Texas and Florida compared

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Kooky

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Alongside the federal mortgage programmes, each American state runs its own housing finance agency, and in the three states covered here those agencies offer first-time buyers help with the down payment and closing costs. The help is real money, but in most of the programmes described below it is not a gift. It is a second loan that sits behind the main mortgage and comes due on a later event, such as a sale or a refinance.

This guide takes three states as worked cases: California, through the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) and its MyHome Assistance Program; Texas, which has two statewide bodies, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) and the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC); and Florida, through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, known as Florida Housing. It sets out who each agency treats as a first-time buyer, where the income and price limits sit, what form the assistance takes, what education is required, why the application goes through a lender rather than the agency, and what triggers repayment. Everything below comes from the agencies' own programme pages and documents as they stood in October 2026.

CalHFA MyHome Assistance Program page; Florida Housing Hometown Heroes page; first-time buyer definitions of CalHFA, TDHCA and Florida Housing, read in October 2026.

What a state housing finance agency does

None of the three agencies hands a mortgage to a buyer across a counter. CalHFA says so directly on its MyHome page: it does not lend directly to consumers, and a buyer applies through a CalHFA-approved loan officer. Florida Housing describes its first mortgage as a 30-year fixed-rate loan for first-time buyers offered through participating lenders. TDHCA and TSAHC both send buyers to participating or approved lenders as well.

The common design has two parts. The first is a first mortgage that carries the agency's name and conditions but is made by a private lender. The second is the assistance itself, which is attached to that first mortgage and cannot be taken alone. CalHFA's MyHome handbook, last revised on 28 February 2022, states that MyHome may only be used with a CalHFA first mortgage. Florida Housing's forgivable second mortgage, called the PLUS second, is available only with two named conventional first mortgages. The assistance is therefore a feature of a package, and the buyer who wants the second loan accepts the first one with it.

That has a practical consequence. A buyer does not compare a state assistance loan with nothing; the comparison is between the whole agency package and an ordinary mortgage without assistance. CalHFA's page notes that interest rates depend on the borrower's finances, lender fees and other factors and can change daily, and it points buyers to an approved loan officer for a quote rather than publishing a single rate.

Who counts as a first-time buyer

All three states use a three-year look-back, so a person who owned a home long ago can still be a first-time buyer. The wording differs, and the differences matter at the margin.

In California, the MyHome handbook, in its revision of 28 February 2022, defines a first-time homebuyer as a borrower who has not had an ownership interest in any principal residence, and has not lived in a home owned by a spouse, during the previous three years. The handbook applies the test to each borrower, co-borrowers included, and each must live in the home.

In Texas, TDHCA's programme chart defines a first-time homebuyer as someone with no ownership interest in a primary residence in the past three years. In Florida, the Florida Housing homebuyer page says the borrower must meet the Internal Revenue Service definition of a first-time homebuyer, which it summarises as not having owned and occupied a primary residence in the three years before the purchase.

California and Texas then carve out exceptions. The CalHFA handbook, as revised on 28 February 2022, exempts borrowers using the federal Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. It also allows buyers using the Federal Housing Administration's Section 203(h) programme to qualify when their previous primary residence stood in a declared California Major Disaster area and was destroyed or declared uninhabitable, provided they buy within one year of the disaster declaration date. TDHCA's chart, which is undated, states that the first-time requirement is waived for properties located in a Qualified Targeted Census Tract and waived for veterans; the chart was re-read on 10 October 2026 and carries both statements.

Texas also shows that first-time status is not always required. TDHCA runs two loan programmes side by side: My First Texas Home, for first-time buyers, and My Choice Texas Home, which the chart marks as having no first-time homebuyer requirement. The TSAHC page on its loans and down payment assistance does not state a first-time requirement for its two programmes either; it says first-time buyers may apply for its Mortgage Credit Certificate, a separate subject from the loans described here.

Income and price limits, and where to find them

Every programme in this guide is means-tested, and none of the agencies prints a single statewide number on its main programme page. The limits are set by county and kept in separate documents.

California's handbook gives the rule: the combined income of all borrowers cannot exceed the published CalHFA income limit for the county. It adds a detail that decides how income is counted. CalHFA uses the lender's credit-qualifying income, and income the lender does not use to qualify the borrower is not used by CalHFA. The MyHome page links to a document holding the county limits.

Florida Housing's homebuyer page says both the purchase price and the borrower's income must be below the limits for the county. For Hometown Heroes, the limits are in a document titled as the 2026 Hometown Hero Program income and loan limits, which the Hometown Heroes page shows as dated 13 July 2026.

In Texas, TDHCA's chart states that purchase price and average family income limits apply, without giving the figures. TSAHC's page, as read, gives no limit figures either, and offers a three-step Path Finder Quiz.

The county figures themselves are outside this guide, because they change by county and by year. What the pages establish is that the test is a county one in California and Florida, and that the figure has to be read in the agency's current limits document.

California: how MyHome is built

CalHFA describes MyHome as a deferred-payment junior loan that can go towards the down payment, the closing costs, or both. The handbook adds that it is a simple-interest subordinate loan. Junior and subordinate mean the same thing here: the loan is secured on the home but ranks behind the first mortgage.

The ceiling depends on the first mortgage it travels with. With a CalHFA FHA or CalPLUS FHA first mortgage, MyHome can reach 3.5% of the sales price or the appraised value, whichever is less. With the CalHFA Conventional, CalPLUS Conventional, CalHFA USDA or CalHFA VA first mortgages, the ceiling is 3% on the same basis. Those six loans are the only first mortgages the handbook lists as partners for MyHome.

A worked example shows why the "whichever is less" wording matters. Assume a buyer agrees a price of US$600,000 and the appraisal comes in at US$590,000. The lower figure governs. With an FHA first mortgage the MyHome ceiling is 3.5% of US$590,000, which is US$20,650. With a conventional first mortgage it is 3% of US$590,000, which is US$17,700. Had the ceiling been measured on the price, the two figures would have been US$21,000 and US$18,000. These are illustrative numbers, not CalHFA figures, and the amount in a real case is set by the lender within the handbook's rules.

The term of the MyHome loan matches the term of the CalHFA first mortgage and cannot exceed 30 years, and payments are deferred for the life of the first loan. The handbook describes interest as simple interest but, in the version read for this guide, does not state the rate. A buyer therefore owes the original sum plus the interest that has built up, without making a monthly payment on it in the meantime.

The handbook, in the 28 February 2022 revision read for this guide, sets several limits on how the money is used; they are given here as that revision states them, and a later revision may differ. MyHome funds may not pay off the borrower's other debts, and the borrower may not receive cash back from the loan. The combined loan-to-value ratio, meaning all loans secured on the home measured against its value, cannot exceed 105%. Other down payment or grant programmes can be layered on top, but when they are, MyHome must stay in second lien position. The lender may charge a total processing fee of no more than US$250 on the MyHome loan, with normal third-party fees allowed in addition.

California: the borrower and the home

The borrower-side rules are stricter than the federal loans they sit on. The 28 February 2022 revision of the handbook requires every borrower to occupy the property as a primary residence within 60 days of closing. Non-occupant co-borrowers are not allowed, and neither are non-occupant co-signors, so a parent cannot join the loan from another address to strengthen the application. Borrowers must be a citizen or national of the United States, or a "Qualified Alien" as federal law defines the term at Title 8 of the United States Code, section 1641.

On credit, the handbook sets no number of its own. The minimum credit score and the maximum debt-to-income ratio are those of the CalHFA first mortgage being used. Where two sets of guidelines conflict, the MyHome page says the lender must follow the more restrictive one.

The home must be a single-family, one-unit residence. CalHFA's page includes approved condominiums and planned unit developments, permits manufactured housing, and says guest houses, granny units and in-law quarters may be eligible.

Texas: two agencies, three forms of help

Texas has two statewide bodies with homebuyer programmes, TDHCA and TSAHC.

TDHCA's Texas Homebuyer Program lists four components on its site: My First Texas Home, My Choice Texas Home, the Texas Statewide Homebuyer Education Program and the Texas Mortgage Credit Certificate Program. The programme chart sets the two loan products against each other.

The chart lists the properties TDHCA accepts: single-family residences, duplexes where the owner occupies one of the two halves, and condominiums and manufactured homes approved by the Federal Housing Administration. It also lists fees: US$275 for compliance review, US$150 for loan review and US$85 for tax service, plus US$400 for issuing a Mortgage Credit Certificate when one is combined with a TDHCA first mortgage. The three fees that apply without a certificate add up to US$510.

TSAHC runs two programmes. Homes for Texas Heroes is for named professions: professional educators in full-time public school district roles, a group the page spells out as teachers, teacher aides, librarians, counsellors and nurses; police and public security officers; firefighters and emergency medical services personnel; veterans and active military; correction and juvenile corrections officers; and nursing and allied health faculty. Home Sweet Texas is for buyers outside those professions.

TSAHC is the clearest of the three states about the form the money can take. Its page offers assistance of up to 5% of the loan amount through a participating lender, in one of three forms:

• a grant, which never has to be repaid;
• a deferred forgivable second lien loan, which is forgiven after three years if the buyer does not sell, refinance or move out during that time;
• a deferred repayable second lien loan, which is repayable when the first lien mortgage is sold, transferred, paid off or refinanced.

As a worked example, assume a first mortgage of US$250,000 and assistance at the full 5%. The assistance is US$12,500. Taken as a grant, nothing is owed back. Taken as the forgivable second lien, the US$12,500 is a debt for three years and then falls away if the three conditions were respected. Taken as the repayable second lien, US$12,500 stays owed until one of the listed events happens. The TSAHC page read for this guide does not say how the first mortgage terms differ between the three options.

For context, the same page gives the standard down payments on the underlying loans: 3.5% for an FHA loan, nothing for USDA and VA loans, and 3% to 5% for a conventional loan, with closing costs typically running from 2% to 5% of the purchase price.

Florida: three second mortgages on the standard programme

Florida Housing's standard homebuyer programme pairs its 30-year fixed-rate first mortgage with one of three second mortgages. They look alike in a brochure and behave very differently in a household budget.

Florida Assist can be used with FHA, VA, USDA and conventional first mortgages. It is non-amortising, which means the balance does not reduce over time because nothing is paid on it, and Florida Housing states that it is not forgivable.

The Florida Homeownership Loan Program second mortgage is the only one of the three with a monthly bill. It is fully amortising, so each payment covers interest and some principal until the loan reaches zero at the end of its term. A worked example: a loan of US$12,500 at 3% a year, repaid in 360 equal monthly instalments, costs about US$52.70 a month. That figure is this guide's own calculation from the published amount, rate and term, not a Florida Housing quotation. Florida Housing notes that the monthly payment may be counted in the borrower's debt-to-income ratio, so the second loan can reduce the size of the first mortgage a buyer qualifies for.

The PLUS second is available only with the conventional HFA Preferred for TBA and HFA Advantage for TBA first mortgages. A worked example: on a total loan amount of US$280,000, the 4% option is US$11,200. Forgiven at 20% a year, US$2,240 falls away each year, and the whole sum is gone at the end of the fifth year.

Across the standard programme, Florida Housing requires a minimum credit score of 640, completion of approved homebuyer education and the use of an approved, participating programme lender.

Florida: Hometown Heroes

The Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program is a separate track for particular occupations. Florida Housing describes it as down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time, income-qualified buyers purchasing a primary residence.

There are three routes in. The workforce route covers full-time employees of a Florida-based employer working as health care workers, school staff, first responders, public safety or court employees, or child care workers. The military route covers servicemembers of the United States military or its reserves, the Coast Guard or its reserves, and the Florida National Guard. The third covers veterans who are employed full time by a Florida-based employer. Eligible military borrowers also receive a lower first mortgage interest rate, according to the page, which does not give the size of the reduction. The detailed list of eligible occupations is a separate document, shown as dated 13 July 2026.

The assistance is up to 5% of the total first mortgage loan amount, with a minimum of US$10,000 and a maximum of US$35,000. It takes the form of a 0%, non-amortising, 30-year deferred second mortgage, and Florida Housing states that it is not forgivable.

Two worked examples show how the percentage and the cap meet. On a first mortgage of US$300,000, 5% is US$15,000, inside the range. The maximum of US$35,000 equals 5% of a US$700,000 loan, so above that loan size the cap, not the percentage, sets the amount; whether a loan of that size fits the programme's county loan limits is a separate question answered by the limits document. At the other end, 5% of a loan below US$200,000 is less than US$10,000, the minimum the page states.

Florida Housing adds a consumer note on the same page: there is no cost to apply, and buyers are warned against anyone who charges an upfront fee.

Education and the lender route

All three states make homebuyer education part of the file, and California is the most specific about what counts.

CalHFA requires its borrowers to complete homebuyer education and obtain a certificate of completion. Only one occupying first-time borrower on each loan has to take it. Online, the only course CalHFA accepts is the eight-hour course from eHome, for a fee of US$100. The page names two other online courses, Frameworks and HomeView, as not accepted, and gives the reason: they lack a one-hour, one-on-one counselling follow-up. In person or by live virtual session, education can be taken through NeighborWorks America or any housing counselling agency approved by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, at a fee that varies by agency.

Florida Housing's page says "approved" homebuyer education must be completed, without listing the courses. TDHCA places a homebuyer education course in the middle of its three-step route.

In California the application also starts with the lender. CalHFA advises buyers to bring pay stubs, bank statements, employment history and previous tax returns to an approved loan officer. The handbook adds a point that concerns mortgage brokers: a broker must work through a CalHFA-approved wholesale lender to process a CalHFA loan. In Florida, the homebuyer page points buyers to the agency's Lender and Real Estate Agent Locator to find a participating lender.

When the second loan comes due

The deferred loans in this guide have no monthly payment, which makes them easy to forget. Each agency lists the events that end the deferral.

In California, the MyHome handbook, as revised on 28 February 2022, makes principal and interest due at the earliest of five events: transfer of title, sale of the property, payoff of the first loan, refinance of the first loan, or the formal filing and recording of a Notice of Default, unless that notice is rescinded.

In Florida, the Florida Assist loan is due in full on sale, transfer, satisfaction of the first mortgage, refinancing, or when the borrower stops occupying the property. The Hometown Heroes loan is due in full on sale of the property, refinancing of the first mortgage, transfer of the deed, or when the homeowner no longer occupies the home as a primary residence. The same list applies to the unpaid balance of the Florida Homeownership Loan Program second mortgage.

In Texas, TSAHC's repayable second lien falls due when the first lien mortgage is sold, transferred, paid off or refinanced, and its forgivable version is forgiven only if the buyer has not sold, refinanced or moved out within three years.

The effect on a later sale can be put in numbers. Take the Florida example above, a Hometown Heroes loan of US$15,000 at 0%. If the owner sells in year six, US$15,000 is paid to Florida Housing out of the sale proceeds, the same sum as on day one, because no interest runs and nothing has been repaid. Under California's MyHome, the sum due would be the original loan plus simple interest for the years elapsed, at a rate the handbook read for this guide does not state.

A deferred second loan costs nothing each month, and that is exactly why its due date belongs in the buyer's plans from the first day.

What the published pages leave open

Several points could not be settled from the pages read for this guide, and a buyer's lender is the party who can settle them for a given case.

The TDHCA chart gives the size of its down payment assistance, up to 5%, but not its form: whether it is repayable or forgiven, over what term, and on which events it falls due are not on the chart or on the programme's home page. TSAHC's page does not state a minimum credit score or its education requirement. Florida's Hometown Heroes page does not state a minimum credit score, an education requirement or whether funds remain available; it states the amounts, the form and the eligible groups. The Florida Housing homebuyer page says the PLUS second is forgiven over five years but does not say what happens to the unforgiven part on an early sale.

The California handbook carries a revision date of 28 February 2022, while the MyHome page is undated; the two agree on the 3.5% and 3% ceilings. Neither states the interest rate. In all three states, the county income and price limits sit in separate documents that are revised from time to time, and those documents, not the summaries above, decide whether a particular buyer and a particular home qualify.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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