The short version: Florida Hometown Heroes gives eligible workers up to $35,000 toward a down payment, and Florida Housing’s own program page says plainly that “the Florida Hometown Heroes loan is not forgivable.” It is a 30-year second mortgage at 0% interest. You will repay every dollar — when you sell, when you refinance, or the day the home stops being your primary residence. Almost none of the pages ranking for this program say so.
The sentence underneath the headline number
Search this program and you will find “up to $35,000 in down payment assistance” repeated on page after page, frequently under the word grant. It is not a grant.
Florida Housing structures the assistance as a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage. Deferred is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It means no monthly payment and no interest — genuinely valuable — but the balance sits on your title until one of four things happens:
- You sell the property.
- You refinance the first mortgage.
- You transfer the deed.
- You stop occupying the home as your primary residence.
At that point the full amount becomes due and payable. There is no forgiveness schedule, no partial write-down, and no clock that runs it to zero. A buyer who takes $35,000 in 2026 and refinances in 2029 to catch a lower rate owes the entire $35,000 at closing.
That refinance trigger deserves more attention than it gets. Rates move on their own schedule, and a borrower who took a Hometown Heroes first mortgage at today’s pricing may well want to refinance within a few years. Doing so means retiring the second — which usually means rolling it into the new loan and paying interest on money that was previously interest-free.
None of this makes the program a bad deal. Interest-free money with no monthly payment is a real benefit, and for a buyer who would otherwise be stuck renting it can be the difference between owning and not. But it should be modelled as debt you are deferring, not as a gift you are receiving. Run it through our down payment calculator as a loan before you count it as free.
How much you actually receive
The assistance is 5% of the first mortgage loan amount, subject to a $10,000 minimum and a $35,000 maximum. The minimum is the half of that sentence nobody prints, and it changes the arithmetic in a way worth understanding.
| First mortgage amount | 5% would be | You actually receive | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $7,500 | $10,000 (floor applies) | 6.7% |
| $200,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | 5.0% |
| $400,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | 5.0% |
| $700,000 | $35,000 | $35,000 | 5.0% |
| $800,000 | $40,000 | $35,000 (cap applies) | 4.4% |
The “5%” only actually governs loans between $200,000 and $700,000. Below $200,000 the floor pays you more than 5%. Above $700,000 the cap pays you less. If you are buying at the affordable end of a Florida market, the program is quietly more generous than the headline suggests.
Two structural rules constrain how you use it. Assistance is available only alongside a Florida Housing first mortgage — there is no standalone down payment assistance, so you cannot pair it with an unrelated lender’s loan. And per the program administrator, you may not switch an existing reservation to Hometown Heroes; if you want it, the file has to be reserved as Hometown Heroes from the start. Tell your loan officer before they lock anything.
2026 Hometown Heroes income and loan limits by county
These figures come from Florida Housing’s 2026 Income & Maximum Loan Limits chart, revised 13 July 2026 and effective with reservations as of 6 May 2026. Limits are set by county, and the income column that applies to you depends on which first mortgage product you take.
| County | Metro | Income limit FHA, VA, HFA Advantage | Income limit USDA-RD | Max loan FHA | Max loan HFA Advantage & VA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | Miami | $204,300 | $131,200 | $667,000 | $832,750 |
| Palm Beach | West Palm Beach | $192,750 | $134,400 | $667,000 | $832,750 |
| Broward | Fort Lauderdale | $190,200 | $131,200 | $667,000 | $832,750 |
| Orange | Orlando | $172,350 | $119,850 | $541,287 | $832,750 |
| Hillsborough | Tampa | $172,050 | $119,850 | $541,287 | $832,750 |
Three things the chart tells you that the guides do not.
The USDA column is dramatically lower. In Orange County the gap is $52,500 — $172,350 on an FHA or conventional loan against $119,850 on a USDA-RD loan. USDA income limits count the whole household regardless of size and follow federal rural development rules, not Florida Housing’s. If a lender quotes you an income limit far below the number in this table, check which product they are quoting.
These are loan limits, not purchase price limits. Hometown Heroes caps the size of the mortgage, not the price of the house. A Miami-Dade buyer with a large down payment can purchase above $667,000 on an FHA loan, provided the loan itself stays at or under the cap. Any guide presenting this column as a “maximum home price” has misread the source.
Your county may not be the one you expect. Limits track metropolitan areas, so Pinellas and Pasco match Hillsborough at $172,050, while Osceola and Lake match Orange at $172,350. The statewide floor is $148,050, applying across most rural counties. The outlier at the top is Monroe County — the Keys — at $214,950 income and a $990,150 loan limit on every product, the highest in Florida by a wide margin.
Who qualifies
| Requirement | Hometown Heroes standard |
|---|---|
| Minimum credit score | 640 |
| Employment | Full-time, by a Florida-based employer |
| First-time buyer | Required — waived for veterans, active duty, and targeted-area purchases |
| Occupancy | Must be your primary residence |
| Education | Approved home buyer education course |
| Lender | Must be an approved participating Florida Housing lender |
| Loan types | FHA, VA, USDA-RD, and Freddie Mac HFA Advantage conventional |
The eligible occupations, as of 2026
The 2026 program is limited to three groups. If you have read a sprawling list of a hundred-plus job titles, you are reading an older version.
- A person employed full-time by a Florida-based employer as a health care worker, school staff member, first responder, public safety or court employee, or child care worker.
- A servicemember of the United States military or reserves, the United States Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard.
- A veteran employed full-time by a Florida-based employer.
Florida Housing publishes an example occupations list that is more specific than these headings, and it was last revised in July 2026. If your job title sits near a boundary, check that document rather than assuming.
What “Florida-based employer” actually means
This is stricter than it sounds and looser than people fear. Per the program’s borrower requirements, the employer must have a brick-and-mortar location in Florida that you report to or work from. A remote worker on the payroll of an out-of-state company does not qualify on the strength of living in Florida.
The looser half: only one occupying borrower has to satisfy the employment requirement. A qualifying nurse buying with a spouse who works in an ineligible field still qualifies the household. That single rule disqualifies a lot of people who never apply because they assumed both incomes had to come from eligible professions.
The veteran and targeted-area exemptions
The first-time buyer rule uses the IRS definition: you cannot have held an ownership interest in your primary residence within the last three years. Two exemptions override it.
Veterans need not be first-time buyers if they served in the active military, naval, or air service and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. The documentation requirement is specific and trips people up: you must supply a valid DD214. A Certificate of Eligibility is not an acceptable substitute. Active duty servicemembers are likewise exempt and provide a current Leave and Earnings Statement instead.
Buying in a federally designated targeted area also waives the first-time buyer requirement, for anyone. These are specific census tracts, not whole counties, and you cannot eyeball them — ask your lender to run the property address before you assume you are outside one.
Work out your own numbers first
Hometown Heroes only exists through approved lenders, and the loan officer you pick decides how well the program gets used. Walk in with your own figures rather than theirs: our free calculators cover the monthly payment, what you can actually afford, and how much a second mortgage really costs you over time.
When you are ready to line up a pre-approval, our recommended tools hub lists the pre-approval and rate-comparison services we have vetted, with current pricing and what each is genuinely good for.
Hometown Heroes is not Florida’s only option — and it is not the forgivable one
Florida Housing runs four down payment assistance products. Hometown Heroes is the largest. It is also the only one of the big two that never forgives, and the comparison is rarely made.
| Program | Amount | Structure | Forgivable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hometown Heroes | 5% of loan, $10,000–$35,000 | 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second | No |
| HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage PLUS | 3%, 4% or 5% of loan | Forgivable second, conventional first mortgage only | Yes — 20% a year over 5 years |
| Florida Assist | Up to $10,000 | 0%, non-amortizing deferred second | No |
| Florida Homeownership Loan Program (FL HLP) | $12,500 | 3% fully-amortizing 30-year second, with a monthly payment | No |
Read the second row again. The PLUS second mortgage forgives 20% of the balance each year and is gone entirely after five. On a $400,000 conventional loan, 5% PLUS assistance is $20,000 that you keep, permanently, provided you stay five years. Hometown Heroes on the same loan is also $20,000 — but you owe all of it, forever, until you sell or refinance.
The trade is real in both directions. PLUS is restricted to conventional HFA Preferred and HFA Advantage first mortgages, so an FHA or VA borrower cannot use it. Hometown Heroes carries a lower first mortgage rate and reduced upfront fees, with no origination or discount points, and it reaches $35,000 where PLUS on most Florida loan sizes will not. But a buyer who qualifies for both, plans to stay five years, and is taking a conventional loan anyway should at minimum ask their lender to price both. Very few will volunteer the comparison.
FL HLP deserves one warning of its own: it is a fully amortizing second at 3% with a real monthly payment, which counts in your debt-to-income ratio during underwriting. It is assistance that makes it harder to qualify.
Is Hometown Heroes still available right now?
Yes, as of writing. Florida Housing’s program administrator listed over $35 million available in 2026 Hometown Heroes assistance on 18 August 2026.
That question gets asked because the program has run dry before. The 2025 allocation was fully committed, and reservations stopped until fresh money arrived. A further $50 million was reported in June 2026 as expected for the program, with funds anticipated to become available on 13 July 2026 — the same date Florida Housing revised its 2026 limits chart, which is consistent with a new allocation going live that day.
Put those two figures side by side and you get something no other guide publishes: if roughly $50 million opened on 13 July and more than $35 million remained on 18 August, the program consumed on the order of $15 million in about five weeks. At roughly $3 million a week, the remaining balance would carry into late autumn — but that is our arithmetic, not a Florida Housing projection, and demand is not linear. Treat it as a rough sense of urgency rather than a deadline.
Two practical consequences. First, verify current funds with your lender on the day you apply — not from an article, including this one. Second, once you reserve, the program imposes a 60-day delivery timeline from reservation to loan purchase. A slow file can lose its reservation, so keep documentation moving.
For reference, first mortgage rates under the program on 18 August 2026 ran 6.250% to 6.500% on FHA, VA and USDA-RD loans depending on whether the file is Bond or TBA, with Freddie Mac HFA Advantage pricing between 6.500% and 6.875% by income tier. Compare that against a market quote before assuming the program rate wins — sometimes it does not, and the assistance still has to be worth the difference.
How to apply
Florida Housing does not lend directly, and there is no application you submit yourself.
- Confirm your county limits against the table above, using the income column that matches the loan type you expect to take.
- Check your occupation and employer. Full-time, Florida-based, with a physical Florida location you report to. Only one occupying borrower needs to qualify.
- Find an approved participating lender through Florida Housing’s Lender and Real Estate Agent Locator, or call the corporation on 850-488-4197.
- Say “Hometown Heroes” explicitly at the start. Reservations cannot be switched to the program later, and a loan officer who rarely runs these files will default to whatever is easiest to originate.
- Complete approved home buyer education and get the certificate to your lender before closing.
- Ask for the PLUS comparison in writing if you are taking a conventional loan. Forgivable versus non-forgivable is the single largest financial variable in this decision.
One warning from Florida Housing itself: there is no cost to apply for Hometown Heroes assistance. Anyone charging an upfront fee to enrol you is running a scam, and the corporation asks that you report them to its Inspector General.
Looking at more than one state? We maintain the same county-level analysis for Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland. New to the process? Start with our first-time home buyer guide, our overview of first-time buyer programs, and our national guide to down payment assistance.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Florida Hometown Heroes income limits for 2026?
Limits are set by county. On FHA, VA and HFA Advantage loans they run from $148,050 in most rural counties up to $172,050 in Hillsborough, $172,350 in Orange, $190,200 in Broward, $192,750 in Palm Beach, $204,300 in Miami-Dade and $214,950 in Monroe County. USDA-RD loans use a separate, much lower set of limits.
Do you have to pay back Florida Hometown Heroes assistance?
Yes. Florida Housing states the Hometown Heroes loan is not forgivable. It is a 0% interest, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage that becomes due in full when you sell the home, refinance the first mortgage, transfer the deed, or stop occupying it as your primary residence. There is no forgiveness schedule.
How much down payment assistance does Hometown Heroes give?
5% of your first mortgage loan amount, with a $10,000 minimum and a $35,000 maximum. Because of the floor, a loan under $200,000 receives more than 5% — a $150,000 loan gets the full $10,000, or 6.7%. Loans above $700,000 are capped at $35,000.
What credit score do you need for Florida Hometown Heroes?
640 is the minimum credit score for Florida Housing’s homebuyer programs, including Hometown Heroes. You must also complete an approved home buyer education course and work with an approved participating lender.
Can you use Hometown Heroes if you already own a home?
Generally no — the program uses the IRS first-time buyer definition, meaning no ownership interest in your primary residence in the past three years. Two exemptions apply: veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and anyone buying in a federally designated targeted area. Veterans must provide a valid DD214, not a Certificate of Eligibility.
Is Florida Hometown Heroes funding still available?
Florida Housing’s program administrator listed over $35 million in 2026 assistance available as of 18 August 2026, from a $50 million allocation reported as becoming available on 13 July 2026. Funding is used first-come, first-served, and the 2025 allocation was fully committed before new money arrived. Confirm current availability with your lender on the day you apply.
What is the difference between Hometown Heroes and the HFA Advantage PLUS second mortgage?
Hometown Heroes offers more money, up to $35,000, but it is never forgiven and must be repaid on sale or refinance. The PLUS second mortgage offers 3%, 4% or 5% of the loan amount and is forgiven at 20% a year over five years — but it is only available with a conventional Florida Housing first mortgage, so FHA, VA and USDA borrowers cannot use it.
Sources and effective dates
County income and loan limits are from Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s 2026 Income & Maximum Loan Limits chart, revised 13 July 2026, effective with reservations as of 6 May 2026. Program structure, the non-forgivable language, and the eligible occupation groups are from the corporation’s Hometown Heroes Program page. The 640 credit minimum, the IRS first-time buyer definition, education requirement, and the FL Assist, FL HLP and PLUS second mortgage terms are from its Homebuyer Overview. Interest rates, the funds-available figure and the 60-day delivery timeline are from eHousingPlus, Florida Housing’s program administrator, dated 18 August 2026. Veteran, active duty and targeted-area exemptions and the Florida-employer definition are from the program’s published TBA borrower requirements. The $50 million allocation and its 13 July 2026 availability date were reported in June 2026 as expected rather than confirmed by Florida Housing at that time; we have not found a corporation press release stating the figure, and the burn-rate estimate above is our own arithmetic from the two dated figures.
Funding availability and interest rates on this page change weekly and the county limits change at least annually. Treat every figure here as accurate on its stated date and verify with a participating lender before relying on it. We re-verify this page each time Florida Housing revises its limits.
Disclaimer: The Housing Signal is an independent educational publisher. We are not a mortgage broker, lender, or licensed financial advisor, and nothing here is personalized financial advice. Programme terms, income limits, funding availability, interest rates and eligibility rules change frequently, and the figures above may not reflect your own circumstances or the most recent Florida Housing revision. Figures cited are accurate as of the dates given and will change. Consult a licensed professional before making a decision.