The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) has recently launched the Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program, which provides a loan for 20% of the home purchase price. The loan is meant to be used as down payment assistance, or a combination of down payment assistance and closing cost assistance on conventional loan programs.
UPDATE:
Unfortunately, due to high demand for this program, CalHFA had to pause it only two weeks after its launch.
The biggest selling point is that it allows for up to 20% assistance while most programs cap out at 3.5% to 5%.
The program has more strict requirements than a standard FHA program, with credit FICO score minimum at 680 and follows the CalHFA income limits. Examples of that include:
- Riverside County: $173k / yr
- Orange County: $235k / yr
- San Diego County: $211k / yr
- Los Angeles County: $180k / yr
- San Bernardino County: $173k / yr
The loan amount plus 20% of any appreciation in the property value must be repaid when the homeowner sells or refinances the property. Lower income, 80% or lower, only repay 15%.
The Dream For All program was created in 2021 by AB 140, which empowered the California State Legislature to provide more resources for first-time homebuyers.
There are other down payment assistance programs available.
We discuss them generally on the Down Payment Assistance Podcast episode.