{"id":20280,"date":"2026-05-19T04:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=20280"},"modified":"2026-05-20T02:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:59:13","slug":"buyer-down-payment-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-down-payment-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"The 7 Best National Down Payment Assistance Programs for Buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re dreaming of buying a home<\/a>, and you\u2019ve already got your paint swatches and furniture all picked out. The only problem? You\u2019re not sure you have enough funds for a down payment<\/a>. Is there such a thing as down payment grants?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a common challenge for buyers, especially those moving into homeownership for the first time. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers<\/a>, 31% of first-time buyers reported that saving for a down payment was the most challenging part of the homebuying process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Save thousands when buying a home<\/h3>\n

HomeLight-recommended real estate agents are top-tier negotiators who understand the market data that helps you save as much as possible when buying your dream home.<\/p>\n \n

\n Find a top buyer's agent<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There are a lot of misconceptions around down payments that prevent would-be buyers from getting in the game. Most Americans believe you need to put 15%-20% down on a home (not true!), when in reality, the typical down payment for first-time buyers<\/a> is just 8%<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re ready to buy a home but you don\u2019t have a ton of money saved, you may be able to afford a larger down payment than you think, with a little help.<\/p>\n

There are tons of programs out there to help buyers get into homes, from loans that offer down payments as low as 3% to special grants for first-time buyers.<\/p>\n

We talked to top real estate agent Claire Paris<\/a>, who sells homes 46% faster than the average agent in Portland, Oregon<\/a>, to walk us through what buyers can expect from down payment assistance (DPA) programs and how you can find one in your area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Down payment assistance programs are shown to save home buyers an average of $17,700. Experts walk through how to take advantage of down payment grants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":20288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,630,629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-down-payments","category-home-financing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDown Payment Grants Can Save Buyers $17,700: Here\u2019s How to Get One<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Down payment assistance programs are shown to save home buyers an average of $17,700. Experts walk through how to take advantage of down payment grants.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-down-payment-grants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 7 Best National Down Payment Assistance Programs for Buyers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Down payment assistance programs are shown to save home buyers an average of $17,700. 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