Hoosier Homes down payment assistance — 4% or 5% forgivable second loan with no monthly payments. FHA, VA, USDA & HFA conventional. Get pre-approved today.
The Hoosier Homes Down Payment Assistance program helps Indiana buyers purchase a home by providing financial assistance toward their down payment and closing costs — with no monthly payments on the aid layer.
Program structure
Hoosier Homes provides 4% of your first mortgage loan amount in standard areas, or 5% in designated Targeted Areas (Hoosier Homes Plus). The aid is structured as a second loan — not a grant — with a forgiveness schedule built in.
If you sell or refinance the home within the 7-year window, the remaining unforgiven principal balance must be repaid. We walk through this scenario before you close so you know what a move or refi could cost.
Eligibility
Hoosier Homes pairs with several government-backed and HFA conventional first mortgages — and opens to repeat buyers as well as first-timers.
The 4% Hoosier Homes Down Payment Assistance (DPA) program is available in specific participating counties across Indiana. The home must be a primary residence occupied within 60 days of closing. Eligibility for the 5% Hoosier Homes Plus option is determined by specific Targeted Areas within these jurisdictions — not by whole separate counties.
Approved eligible counties
For the 5% Hoosier Homes Plus tier, the property must sit in an approved participating county and within a designated Targeted Area — typically a specific census tract or qualified community area, not the entire county.
The property must first be located in one of the approved participating counties listed above (such as Adams, Allen, Clay, DeKalb, Fulton, Huntington, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marion, Montgomery, Noble, Parke, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Steuben, Sullivan, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Wells, or Whitley).
To qualify for the 5% assistance level, the specific property address must be located within a designated Targeted Area Census Tract or qualified community area within those jurisdictions.
Properties located in these Targeted Areas also qualify to have standard program income limits waived.
Note: Targeted Areas are defined down to specific census tract numbers within participating counties and cities. Check the exact property address against Exhibit A of the program guidelines or the DASH reservation portal during loan registration to verify whether a specific address qualifies for the 5% tier.
Financial details
Hoosier Homes is designed to minimize out-of-pocket cash at closing — with clear rules on what you can and cannot receive back from the assistance.
Hoosier Homes does not require you to bring your own funds toward the down payment. The program is built to cover the assistance layer without a mandatory minimum contribution from you.
If payment shock is greater than 100% (for example, current rent is $1,000 and the new payment is $2,250 — payment shock is 125%: $1,250 ÷ $1,000), or the borrower lives rent-free, 2 months of reserves are required from your own funds. Gift funds cannot be used to meet the reserve requirement. If rent is not clearly noted on the bank statement, it must be verified with a VOR.
Borrowers cannot receive cash back from assistance funds. However, you may receive a refund for any excess personal funds you contributed at closing — so money you put in above what was needed can come back to you.
Program guidelines, income limits, and Targeted Area maps change. This page is educational — final eligibility is confirmed when your file is underwritten against current Hoosier Homes rules.
Mortgage Knowledge Center
Deep-dive guides on how Hoosier Homes works, assistance amounts, forgiveness, eligibility, cash-to-close, co-borrowers, and refinance rules.
Ryan and Steve will screen Hoosier Homes against your county, loan type, and income — then build a pre-approval that accounts for 4% or 5% DPA up front.