Down Payment Closing Costs Assistance

Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance
Overview

Overview

• The loan funds must be used to pay a down payment and closing costs on the purchase.

• The home you buy must be your primary residence.

• The purchase price may not exceed $676,000, subject to periodic adjustments

• Qualified buyers’ family income must not exceed 80 percent of the San Diego County Area Median Income, also called the AMI.

• You will need to contribute a minimum of three percent of the purchase price.

• You must not have owned a home in the last three years.

• There are no payments on the loan until you refinance, sell, pay off the first mortgage, or no longer occupy the property as your primary residence.

• Your loan repayment will be made in one payment that equals the original principal loan amount plus any accrued interest.

• You should talk to a lender (see participating lender list) about your ability to qualify for a mortgage.

• Before you can use this program, you will need to complete an educational class provided by one of these organizations: CalHome/ HUD-approved Homebuyer Education Providers.

Eligible Property

• You may be able to use this program to buy a new or resale single-family home, condominium, townhome or a manufactured home on a permanent foundation.

• The home you purchase must be in an unincorporated area of San Diego County or in the city of Carlsbad, Coronado, Del Mar, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach or Vista. For all other cities, please contact the appropriate agency for more information.

• Before your loan can be approved, your new house will be inspected to ensure required standards are met. Please see Before the Inspection.

How to Apply

• The County of San Diego has partnered with the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) to administer the Downpayment and Closing Cost Assistance (DCCA) Program. For more information please visit SDHC.

Lenders

• To become a participating lender, please see SDHC Lenders site.
• For more information or loan payoff, please contact the San Diego Housing Commission First Time Homebuyer Program staff at FTHB@sdhc.org or Loan Servicing staff at loanservicing@sdhc.org. 

• To participate, in the County of San Diego's DCCA Program, you must first apply for and obtain a first trust deed loan approval through one of the mortgage lenders pre-approved by SDHC.