TSAHC vs TDHCA vs SETH Down Payment Assistance 2026:
Rates, Fees and Limits

How Texas Down Payment Assistance Actually Works

Every program on this page works the same basic way. A state agency provides your 30-year fixed mortgage through a participating lender. The agency then adds assistance worth 2% to 5% of your loan. You use that money for your down payment and closing costs.

The assistance comes in three forms. The form you choose sets your rate, so start here:

• A grant. Money you keep after six months. TSAHC offers this on government loans only (FHA, VA, USDA), never on conventional. It also carries the highest interest rate of the three forms.
• A forgivable second lien. A zero-interest, no-payment loan that disappears after 3 years (TSAHC, TDHCA) or 10 years (SETH MyHome Plus) if you keep the home. Sell or refinance early and you repay it.
• A repayable second lien. Zero interest, no monthly payment, but the balance comes due when you sell, refinance, or hit year 30. In exchange, it carries the lowest rate.

One more mechanic that surprises people: the percentage applies to your loan amount, not the purchase price. TSAHC’s guidelines specify assistance is a percentage “of the total loan amount.” On a $350,000 home with 3% down, a 3% assistance award is 3% of the $339,500 loan (about $10,185), not 3% of the price. With FHA’s financed mortgage insurance in the loan, the math shifts again. Your lender runs the exact numbers before you commit.

TSAHC: Home Sweet Texas and Homes for Texas Heroes

The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation runs two programs that are the same product with different income ceilings. Homes for Texas Heroes serves teachers, teacher aides, school librarians, counselors and nurses, police and public security officers, firefighters and EMS, corrections and juvenile corrections officers, county jailers, veterans and active military, and nursing or allied health faculty. Home Sweet Texas serves everyone else. TSAHC’s own words: “Both programs offer the same down payment assistance options.”

What Heroes adds is headroom: income limits about 13% higher (170% of area median income instead of 150%), plus a free mortgage credit certificate: the $400 issuance fee is waived. In Tarrant County that means a Heroes household can earn up to $187,510 and still qualify. Home Sweet Texas allows $165,450. Neither number is a “low-income” cutoff, which is exactly why so many buyers wrongly rule themselves out.

Source: TSAHC program guidelines, revised September 9, 2026, and TSAHC’s daily rate page, read October 23, 2026.

Two facts about TSAHC that almost no national article gets right. First, the plain assistance program has no purchase price limit. The guidelines state: “For Non-Bond DPA (no MCC), there are no purchase price limits when using the Non-Bond DPA by itself.” Second, you do not have to be a first-time buyer for the assistance — that rule only applies when you add a mortgage credit certificate or use the bond-funded track.

TDHCA: My First Texas Home and My Choice Texas Home

The state housing department runs the other two programs, and the names tell you who they serve. My First Texas Home is the bond program: first-time buyers (or anyone who has not owned in 3 years), government loans only, and, on the October 23, 2026 sheets, a lower no-assistance rate than TSAHC’s. My Choice Texas Home drops the first-time rule entirely. TDHCA’s description: “30-year, low-interest mortgage rates for everyone, you do not have to be a First Time Homebuyer to qualify.”

My Choice also has no purchase price limit, is not subject to federal recapture tax, and counts only the borrower’s income. A non-purchasing spouse’s income does not count against you. My First Texas Home counts household income including a non-purchasing spouse, a rule that catches many two-income households.

TDHCA prices its two second-lien structures differently than TSAHC does, and the pattern is worth knowing: the 30-year repayable second runs roughly half a point cheaper in rate than the 3-year forgivable second at the same assistance level. You pay for forgiveness with rate. If you plan to stay in the home long past year 3 anyway, price both structures before assuming forgivable wins.

One genuine TDHCA exclusive: it still offers a stand-alone mortgage credit certificate: a 15% federal tax credit on mortgage interest you can pair with a mortgage from a TDHCA-participating lender, when TDHCA’s daily rate notice shows it available, for a $1,000 fee ($400 when combined with the program loan, waived for military). TSAHC discontinued its stand-alone MCC. If the tax credit is the only piece you want, TDHCA is the only statewide door.

SETH 5 Star: The Grand Prairie Fine Print

The Southeast Texas Housing Finance Corporation sounds like a Houston operation, and its 5 Star Texas Advantage program mostly is not: it runs nearly statewide. The official eligibility line: the program “is available in Texas but excludes the city limits of El Paso, Grand Prairie and McKinney.”

Read that list again if you shop in DFW. Grand Prairie city limits are excluded. Grand Prairie spreads across Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties. A Tarrant County address can still be ineligible if it sits inside Grand Prairie. This is a city-limits check, not a county check. Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Johnson, and Ellis counties are otherwise all eligible.

The program itself: up to 5% of the loan amount, as either a 3-year forgivable second or a deferred second repaid at sale, refinance, or year 30. SETH’s description promises “No payments & no accrued interest.” No first-time requirement. No maximum sales price. The credit floor is 640, the highest of the three agencies, though SETH’s sibling program MyHome Plus (a 10-year forgivable second) accepts 620.

Which Program Fits You

Your lender runs the final numbers, but the decision usually turns on four questions:

1. 1Are you a teacher, first responder, veteran, or corrections officer? Start with TSAHC Homes for Texas Heroes. The higher income ceiling plus the free tax certificate is the strongest combination the state offers those professions.
2. 2Is this your first home, and is income under the bond limits? Price My First Texas Home first. On the October 23, 2026 sheets its no-assistance rate was below TSAHC’s, so it is the one to price first when you can bring your own down payment.
3. 3Owned a home before, or over the bond income limits? TSAHC’s standard track, My Choice Texas Home, and SETH 5 Star all skip the first-time rule. Compare their current rate sheets side by side.
4. 4Grant or second lien? Free money sounds better, but the rate sheet disagrees. On TSAHC’s October 23, 2026 FHA sheet, the 2% grant cost 0.875 points more in rate than taking no assistance, while the 2% forgivable second cost 0.125 more. Rates change daily, but the grant carried the highest rate on both the August and October sheets. Over a 30-year loan, the “free” grant is usually the expensive option.

2026 Income Limits for DFW Counties

Income limits move every year, and the 2026 numbers run far higher than most buyers guess. These are the current published limits for the counties this guide covers, any household size unless noted:

Sources: TSAHC county income limits tool; TDHCA limits effective July 13, 2026; SETH limits effective June 15, 2026. All checked October 23, 2026. Limits differ by county. Van Zandt County, for example, runs $155,992 for Home Sweet Texas and $69,360 for the 80%-of-median conventional tier.

Two definitions hide inside these tables. The conventional loan versions of these programs have a separate tier at 80% of area median income ($94,000 in every core DFW county), and qualifying under it earns a cheaper rate and cheaper mortgage insurance. And all three agencies use the same 80% figure because they all pull from the same federal table. When your income sits near $94,000, which side of that line you land on changes your monthly payment more than which agency you pick.

City Programs You Can Add on Top

The state programs are not the only money on the table. Cities run their own assistance, generally for lower incomes and with residency rules, and some can layer with a state program loan. The Dallas Homebuyer Assistance Program is now run by BCL of Texas. It offers up to $60,000 in designated High Opportunity Areas and $50,000 elsewhere. Households must be at or below 80% of area median income, and existing homes must cost $342,000 or less. BCL’s brochure lists a lower $273,000 cap for new construction while its program manual lists $342,000, so ask BCL which applies to a new build.

Other DFW cities and counties run their own programs, and their amounts and rules change with each funding cycle. If a city program matters to your purchase, Silvia can pull the current terms with you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Texas down payment assistance: common buyer questions