California First-Time Homebuyer Programs & Down Payment Assistance

CalHFA and other real, currently active programs that can help cover your down payment — what they offer, who qualifies, and whether you can use them without a buyer's agent.

California runs several programs that help first-time buyers cover a down payment or closing costs. None of them are secret, and none require a traditional buyer’s agent — but eligibility, funding, and even whether a given program is currently open change often enough that it’s worth checking before you plan around one.

Program details below reflect research as of September 16, 2026. Income limits, loan amounts, and application windows change or expire — confirm current terms directly with CalHFA or the relevant program before relying on any figure here.

CalHFA MyHome Assistance Program

MyHome is a deferred-payment junior loan — up to 3.5% of the purchase price or appraised value (whichever is lower) if you’re using an FHA first mortgage, or up to 3% with a conventional first mortgage. It can go toward your down payment, closing costs, or both. There are no monthly payments on it; the loan comes due when you sell the home, refinance, or pay off the first mortgage.

To qualify, you need to be a first-time homebuyer (generally meaning no ownership interest in a home in the past three years), occupy the property as your primary residence, meet CalHFA’s income limit for your county, and complete a homebuyer education course before closing. Income limits are set per county and updated periodically — CalHFA publishes the current table on its own site, and it’s worth checking directly rather than trusting a number from a third-party summary, since limits vary widely by county and change during the year.

CalHFA Zero Interest Program (ZIP)

ZIP is a smaller, no-interest deferred loan — up to roughly 3% of your loan amount — aimed specifically at closing costs, and it’s paired with a specific CalHFA first-mortgage product rather than offered on its own. Like MyHome, it’s repaid later, not monthly. If you’re already working with a CalHFA-approved lender for MyHome, ask whether the first-mortgage product you’re using is ZIP-eligible.

Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan

Dream For All is CalHFA’s largest down-payment program — up to 20% of the purchase price, capped at $150,000, toward your down payment or closing costs. It works differently from MyHome: instead of a flat repayment, you repay the original loan amount plus a share of the home’s appreciation when you sell, refinance, or pay off the first mortgage (roughly 15% of the gain for lower-income borrowers, 20% for moderate-income borrowers, by CalHFA’s published structure). It also requires at least one borrower to be a first-generation homebuyer, in addition to the first-time-buyer requirement — a narrower bar than MyHome.

Other active programs worth knowing about

• Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC).Not a down-payment program — it’s a federal tax credit that lets you convert a portion of the mortgage interest you already pay each year into a direct, dollar-for-dollar credit on your taxes, for as long as you hold the loan and live in the home. MCCs are issued through specific county or regional housing authorities (Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and Contra Costa counties have run active programs), and funding for any given county’s allocation can run out — confirm availability in your specific county before counting on one.
• GSFA Platinum.A statewide program (not run by CalHFA) offering down-payment and closing-cost assistance up to roughly 5% of your loan amount, either as a non-repayable grant or a repayable second loan with a lower first-rate in exchange. It’s not limited to first-time buyers and has a higher income ceiling than CalHFA’s programs, but its specific terms and promotional periods change — check current guidelines before assuming a number.
• City and county programs.A number of California cities and counties run their own local down-payment-assistance funds, separate from CalHFA and GSFA. Availability and funding levels vary a lot by jurisdiction and can be exhausted or paused; check with your city or county’s housing department for what’s currently open where you’re buying.

Using these programs without a buyer’s agent

The formal requirements on CalHFA’s own programs are consistent across MyHome, ZIP, and Dream For All: a first mortgage through a CalHFA-approved lender, and a homebuyer education course. Representation by a real estate agent isn’t part of the eligibility criteria for any of them. That means going unrepresented — or using CasaCopilot instead of a traditional buyer’s agent — doesn’t disqualify you from any CalHFA down-payment program. The relationship that actually matters for these programs is with your lender, not your agent.

Where to start

Homebuyer education is the one requirement that shows up across nearly every program here, so it’s a reasonable first step regardless of which program ends up fitting. From there, a CalHFA-approved lender can confirm your county’s current income limit, which programs are actually open right now, and whether Dream For All has reopened since this guide was written.

This is educational guidance, not legal advice. Consult a California real estate attorney for legal questions specific to your transaction.