New Mexico Down Payment Assistance
New Mexico is known for good food and rich cultural history. However, rising real estate prices can make home ownership in New Mexico difficult. Luckily, local and national programs exist that offer down payment assistance and grants to qualified applicants.
If you're thinking about purchasing a home in New Mexico, you may have options to help with the down payment or closing costs. Read below to learn more about any program and see if it can help with your home purchase!
The NEXTHome program offers a combined first and second mortgage loan to qualified individuals.
The second mortgage is for down payment assistance of as much as 3% of the first mortgage. This second mortgage has no monthly payment and can be forgiven if certain requirements are completed.
This program is meant to help low-and-moderate income households purchase single-family homes. Houses that have been purchased using NEXTHome must be occupied by the applicants as their primary residences within 60 days after closing.
In order to qualify, applicants cannot have a credit score lower than 620, and must be able to put down at least $500 towards the purchase from their own assets. This $500 cannot come from a gift, grant, or a different type of down payment assistance.
Applicants must be working with a participating lender to utilize this program.
As of 2022, the annual household income limit for this program is $95,000, and the purchase price limit is $346,600.
FIRSTDown, a second mortgage loan to be combined with a FIRSTHome mortgage, offers as much as $8,000 to help with the down payment and closing costs of a home purchase. This second mortgage will have monthly payments.
Only first-time homebuyers are eligible for FIRSTDown. In order to get a FIRSTHome mortgage or FIRSTDown payment assistance, the applicant must be working with a participating lender. Income limits apply.
Purchase price and income limits also apply.
For low-income households, HOMENow offers as much as $8,000 (or 8% of the purchase price – whichever is less). This is a second mortgage meant to help with the costs of purchasing a home, including the down payment and closing.
This loan does not have a monthly payment and is forgivable providing that the applicant uses the property as their primary residence for 10 years, and does not sell, refinance, transfer, rent, or vacate the property in that period.
Only first-time homebuyers can qualify. Further, applicants must be able to put down $500 from their own liquid assets towards the home purchase. This amount cannot come from a gift, grant, or different down payment assistance. Applicants must also have a FIRSTHome mortgage to be able to utilize HOMENow.
Income and purchase price limits will apply. The minimum allowed credit score is 620. If the applicant does not have a credit history, other ways to measure creditworthiness can be determined. Both homebuyer education and counseling will be required.
The property being purchased using this program must be in New Mexico and can be a single-family house, detached site-build, condo, townhome, or planned unit development. Manufactured homes can also be allowed providing that they are double-wide, have a permanent foundation, and are assessed as real property. All properties being purchased using this program must serve as the applicants’ primary residences within 60 days of closing. Rental units are not allowed.
To utilize HOMENow, the applicant must be working with a participating lender.
