Colorado Down Payment Assistance Programs: The Plain-English Guide

Most people in Colorado give up on buying a home for one reason: they think they need a giant pile of cash for a down payment. They don’t.

There are 30+ down payment assistance (DPA) programs in Colorado — money set up specifically to help people get into a home with little or nothing down. The problem? Most lenders only carry two or three of them. So unless you happen to walk into the right office, you never hear about the program that could have changed everything.

Let me fix that.

What is down payment assistance, really?

Down payment assistance (help paying the upfront cash a lender asks for) comes in a few flavors:

• Grants — money you don’t pay back.
• Silent seconds — a second loan with no monthly payment; you settle up when you sell or refinance.
• Repayable seconds — a small second loan with a low payment.

Some programs cover your down payment. Some cover closing costs (the fees to finalize the loan). Some cover both.

Who qualifies?

This is where it gets interesting. There are programs for:

• First-time buyers
• Repeat buyers
• Teachers, first responders, and healthcare workers
• Veterans
• Buyers in specific Colorado counties and cities

Income limits and credit requirements vary by program — and that’s the whole point of shopping 30+ of them instead of one.

How “stacking” works

Sometimes you can combine programs — pairing a low-down-payment loan (like FHA) with a DPA program that covers the down payment. The result: you walk in with far less cash than you thought you needed.

The bottom line

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines because you “don’t have enough saved,” call me before you give up. Most of my first-time buyers close with way less out of pocket than they expected.

Ready to see what you qualify for? Schedule a free 15-minute call or call me at 303-587-4297.