The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) has a homebuyer assistance program that will help qualified, first-time buyers with their down payment.  This program is called the California Homebuyer’s Down Payment Assistance Program (CHDAP), and is “a deferred payment, simple interest rate junior loan.”  If you want to use other down payment assistance loans or grants, CalHFA will allow you to use them with CHDAP. 

Here are basic qualifications of the CHDAP loan program.

  • The borrowers’ household income cannot exceed median income for area.
  • The borrower must contribute either 1% of the sales price or $1,000, whichever is more. 
  • This assistance program applies only to California properties.
  • The borrower must be a first-time homebuyer or have not owned a home in the last three years.

For more information and additional qualifications, visit the CalHFA website.