For homebuyers
Buying Your First Home
CHFA first mortgage options, down payment assistance, and the income and sales price limits that apply to your purchase.
Steps to get started
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1. Check the limits
CHFA loans have a household income limit and a sales price limit, and both vary by town and household size. They change during the year, so check the version in force rather than one you saved.
Income and sales price limits: 10 published versions, with dates
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2. Which program fits?
Start with Make it Yours, then check whether down payment assistance applies to your purchase. Several other programs discount the rate by 0.125% if you qualify, and buying in a targeted area discounts it by 0.25%. Discounts do not stack.
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3. Which lender?
You apply through a CHFA participating lender, not to CHFA. They take the application, underwrite it, and close.
Take the class first
CHFA-participating counseling agencies run free pre-purchase homebuyer education across Connecticut. It is a requirement for some programs and useful for all of them.
The programs
Programs and eligibility
- Time To OwnForgivable down payment assistance. No monthly payments; ten percent of the balance is forgiven each year until the loan is fully forgiven on the tenth anniversary.
- Down Payment Assistance Program (DAP)A second mortgage for the down payment and closing costs, at the lesser of the first mortgage rate in effect or 5.00%.
- Make it YoursCHFA's first mortgage program for first-time buyers and buyers who have not owned a home in three years.
- HFA Preferred Loan ProgramA conventional loan with reduced mortgage insurance for eligible borrowers.
- HFA Advantage Loan ProgramA conventional option through Freddie Mac with CHFA's below-market rate.
- Government Insured Mortgage ProgramsFHA, VA, and USDA loans at CHFA's published rate.
- Home of Your Own ProgramA 0.125% rate discount for applicants who are disabled or who have a disabled household member.
- Military Homeownership ProgramA 0.125% rate discount for current service members and veterans of any branch.
- Teachers Mortgage Assistance ProgramA 0.125% rate discount for Connecticut licensed teachers meeting the program criteria.
- Police Homeownership ProgramA 0.125% rate discount for municipal officers buying in the town where they work and for state troopers buying anywhere in the state.
- Homeownership ProgramA 0.125% rate discount for residents of public housing.
- Mobile Manufactured Home Loan ProgramFinancing for mobile and manufactured homes at CHFA's government rate less 1.00%, or 3.00%, whichever is greater.
- Next MoveAssistance for buyers moving on from a first home, with deferred down payment assistance.
Before you use a rate
Check current rates
CHFA publishes indicative rates. Your lender confirms the rate when it is locked.