The short version: the Ohio Housing Finance Agency offers down payment assistance worth 3% of the purchase price on a conventional loan, or 3.5% on an FHA, VA or USDA loan. It is a forgivable second mortgage, not a grant, and it is wiped out entirely after seven years. If you have read elsewhere that Ohio offers “2.5% or 5%,” that information is thirteen months out of date.

What changed on 1 July 2025, and why most guides still have it wrong

Until mid-2025, OHFA ran a program branded Your Choice! Down Payment Assistance, which let buyers elect either 2.5% or 5% of the purchase price. On 1 July 2025 OHFA restructured the program. The election disappeared. Assistance is now set by loan type, and the maximum available fell from 5% to 3.5%.

This matters because the change is not reflected in the guides that currently rank for this topic. As of 29 July 2026, the three highest-ranking national guides to Ohio down payment assistance all still describe assistance of “2.5% or 5%.” One of them was updated three days before this article was written and still carries the retired figures. None of the three publishes a single income limit or purchase price figure, deferring instead to language like “limits vary by county.”

The likely reason is traceable. OHFA’s own Your Choice! flyer is still live on OHFA’s server, still describing “either 2.5% or 5% of the home’s purchase price,” and still stamped “Revised December 19, 2022.” It names an executive director who no longer holds the post. A stale primary source left in place has propagated the wrong number across the entire first page of results.

How much assistance you can get

OHFA’s lender guidelines specify the assistance is sized at exactly that percentage of the home purchase price, rounded down to the nearest dollar. On a $250,000 home with an FHA loan, that is $8,750. The money can go toward your down payment, your closing costs, or other pre-closing expenses.

Assistance is only available alongside an OHFA first mortgage — specifically the First-Time Homebuyer, Ohio Heroes or Next Home products. You cannot take OHFA assistance and pair it with an unrelated lender’s loan.

OHFA income limits for 2026, by county

These are the figures the competing guides will not print. They come from OHFA’s Income and Purchase Price Limits for Homeownership Products document, effective 1 July 2026.

OHFA sets limits by county and by household size, but there are only ten distinct figures across all 88 counties. Find your county in the right-hand column.

Union County is the outlier. At $146,700 it carries the highest income limit in Ohio by a wide margin — roughly $35,000 above the rest of the Columbus metro, which it otherwise sits inside. OHFA’s document offers no footnote explaining it. If you are buying in Union County, this works strongly in your favour.

Two further points on the limits. First, if you are buying in a designated target area — a census tract OHFA and HUD have flagged as economically distressed — the limits rise to 120% of the figures above for one- and two-person households, and 140% for three or more. You can check whether a specific address falls in a target area using OHFA’s target area lookup.

Second, OHFA publishes a separate 80% AMI table that is often mistaken for an income cap. It is not. It determines whether a conventional loan qualifies for reduced mortgage insurance coverage. Exceeding it does not disqualify you from assistance.

Ohio purchase price limits for 2026

Purchase price limits are grouped by region rather than county, and for 2026 there are effectively only two tiers.

OHFA’s document lists Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Canton/Massillon as separate regions, but every one of them prints figures identical to “all other counties.” Only Columbus differs in 2026. Limits for two-, three- and four-unit properties are higher; the figures above are for single-family homes.

In practice these ceilings are generous enough that most Ohio buyers will hit the income limit long before the purchase price limit. If you are working out which of the two actually binds for you, our home affordability calculator will show the price range your income supports, and the down payment calculator will show what you still need in cash after assistance is applied.

Who qualifies for down payment assistance in Ohio

Beyond score and debt-to-income, four requirements apply.

First-time buyer status. OHFA defines this as having had no ownership interest in a principal residence at any point in the three years ending on the date the mortgage is executed. There are two exceptions: honourably discharged veterans qualify regardless of prior ownership, and the requirement is waived entirely if the home is in a designated target area. Buyers who do not qualify as first-time can use OHFA’s Next Home product instead.

Homebuyer education. At least one owner-occupant borrower must complete a minimum of four hours of education, certified within the previous twelve months. You can use a HUD-approved Ohio counselling agency — which must include live phone or in-person contact, not a self-paced course alone — or OHFA’s own free online program. Note the timing trap: OHFA’s course cannot begin until after you have submitted your loan application, and the certificate must be in hand before commitment approval. That is a narrow window.

Occupancy. You must occupy the home as your principal residence within 60 days of closing, and for at least one year afterwards.

Credit score. The 640 and 650 thresholds are firm. If you are below them, that is the constraint worth attacking first — our guide to improving your credit score for a mortgage covers the levers that move a score fastest.

The five OHFA programs, compared

There is a sixth product almost nobody writes about. FTHB Edge exists for first-time buyers in a non-target area whose income exceeds the standard limit but falls below the target-area limit — a Franklin County household earning between $111,500 and $133,800, for example. It carries a potentially higher interest rate, and OHFA maintains no consumer-facing page for it at all; it appears only in lender documentation. If your income sits in that band, ask a participating lender about it by name.

The repayment rule most guides get wrong

OHFA’s consumer-facing page says that if you sell your home within seven years, you must repay all of the assistance. That is incomplete in a way that costs money.

OHFA’s lender guidelines state the second mortgage becomes “due upon sale or refinance if either occur within the first 7 years after closing date.” Refinancing triggers full repayment just as selling does. Since mortgage rates move on their own schedule, a buyer who takes 3.5% assistance in 2026 and refinances in 2029 to capture a lower rate would owe the entire balance back — a scenario no competing guide we reviewed mentions.

Forgiveness is also a cliff, not a slope. The standard program forgives nothing until year seven, then forgives everything at once. Grants for Grads is the exception, reducing the balance 20% each year. If there is a realistic chance you will move or refinance inside seven years, model the assistance as a loan rather than a gift.

One item we could not verify from any OHFA consumer source: whether federal recapture tax applies to these mortgage revenue bond–financed loans. Recapture can claw back a portion of your gain if you sell within nine years while your income has risen substantially. Ask your lender directly, and get the answer in writing.

How to apply

You cannot apply to OHFA. Assistance is originated through a network of roughly 140 participating lenders across Ohio, and the lender submits on your behalf.

1. Find a participating lender using OHFA’s county-by-county directory, or call OHFA on 888.362.6432.
2. Apply for the loan with that lender and tell them explicitly which OHFA products you want — assistance, Ohio Heroes, Grants for Grads, the tax credit, or FTHB Edge.
3. Complete your four hours of homebuyer education after the application goes in, and confirm the certificate reaches the lender before commitment approval.
4. Expect fees of 1% origination, an $84 tax service fee, a $100 OHFA administration fee and a $475 funding fee. The Mortgage Tax Credit carries its own fee: $250 for MTC Plus, $500 for MTC Basic.

If Ohio’s program turns out not to fit, our guide to down payment assistance programs covers how these schemes work nationally, and our first-time homebuyer guide walks through the wider purchase process.

Frequently asked questions

How much down payment assistance can you get in Ohio?

OHFA offers 3% of the purchase price on a conventional loan and 3.5% on an FHA, VA or USDA loan. On a $250,000 home that is $7,500 or $8,750. The older figures of 2.5% and 5% were retired on 1 July 2025 and no longer apply.

Who qualifies for down payment assistance in Ohio?

You need a credit score of at least 640, or 650 for FHA loans, a debt-to-income ratio at or below 45–50% depending on loan type, income under your county limit, and four hours of homebuyer education. Most applicants must also be first-time buyers, with exceptions for veterans and target-area purchases.

Do you have to pay back OHFA down payment assistance?

Only if you sell or refinance within seven years. The assistance is a forgivable second mortgage with no interest that is written off entirely at the seven-year mark. There is no partial forgiveness before then, so an early sale or refinance means repaying the full amount.

What is the income limit for down payment assistance in Ohio?

It depends on your county and household size. For one- or two-person households the limits run from $98,800 in most counties up to $111,500 across the Columbus metro and $146,700 in Union County. Households of three or more get roughly 15% more. Target-area purchases allow higher limits.

What credit score do you need for OHFA down payment assistance?

640 for conventional, VA and USDA-RD loans, and 650 for FHA loans. Manufactured homes financed conventionally require 660. Scores above 660 for VA and USDA, or 680 for FHA, also unlock a higher maximum debt-to-income ratio of 50% rather than 45%.

Ohio is not the only state where the published figures have drifted from the current rules. Maryland reset every income and purchase price limit on 24 June 2026 — see our guide to Maryland down payment assistance for the verified limits across all 24 jurisdictions.

Sources and effective dates

Income and purchase price figures are taken from OHFA’s Income and Purchase Price Limits for Homeownership Products, effective 1 July 2026. Program terms, credit score thresholds and debt-to-income maximums are from OHFA’s lender guidelines, effective 1 July 2025 with updates through 27 April 2026. The program restructuring is documented in OHFA’s 25 June 2025 announcement.

OHFA updates its income and purchase price limits every 1 July, and does not issue a press release when it does. If you are reading this after July 2027, check the source document before relying on the figures above. We re-verify this page each July.

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. Program terms, income limits, fees and eligibility rules change frequently, and the figures above may not reflect your own circumstances or the most recent OHFA revision. Figures cited are accurate as of the dates given and will change. Consult a licensed professional before making a decision.