Ask 1stFlorida
Yes, through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the state's housing agency. Its homebuyer loans are made by approved participating lenders, not by the agency, so the first step is a loan officer on its list.
For its programs a first-time buyer is anyone who has not owned and lived in a primary residence in the past three years, and your income and the purchase price must be under limits set for the county you buy in. Its down payment help comes as a second mortgage: FL Assist up to $10,000, the Florida Homeownership Loan Program second mortgage of $12,500, and a forgivable 3, 4 or 5 percent of the loan with its HFA Preferred and HFA Advantage PLUS loans. The Hometown Heroes program adds up to 5 percent of the loan, between $10,000 and $35,000, for people employed full time by a Florida employer in health care, schools, first response, public safety, the courts or child care, and for servicemembers and veterans. It is funded in rounds, so ask the lender whether it is open when you apply.
01What a lender measures against your monthly income is what you would pay each month, not the price of the house: the new house payment with its taxes and insurance, plus any car loan, card or other debt.
Read the answer →
02Florida's median household income is $74,568 a year, by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, published January 2026: half of Florida households earn more than that and half earn less.
Read the answer →Help with rent runs through local housing authorities, not through the state and not through HUD directly.
What a lender measures against your monthly income is what you would pay each month, not the price of the house: the new house payment with its taxes and insurance, plus any car loan, card or other debt.
Florida's median household income is $74,568 a year, by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, published January 2026: half of Florida households earn more than that and half earn less.
Have a different question? Ask 1stFlorida →