A homebuyer whose income is under 80% of the Area Median Income for the county in which they are buying a home can get a lower rate on conventional loans (as distinct from government loans through FHA, VA or USDA). The 80% threshold is set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
2025 80% AMI Limits for Conventional Loans
2024 80% AMI Limits for Conventional Loans
PLEASE NOTE: This information does not determine eligibility and should not be relied on for any other purpose than determining rates on conventional loans.
Categories: Home Advantage House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs
A rate buydown is a mortgage financing option where a borrower pays an upfront fee (or the seller or lender pays on their behalf) to reduce the interest rate on the loan for the entire life of the mortgage. This results in lower monthly payments. To request a rate buydown, please use this form.
Categories: Home Advantage
Yes, our home loans and downpayment assistance work with homes purchased through Habitat for Humanity or a Community Land Trust. The House Key Opportunity program offers special rates for borrowers who are purchasing a home through an approved affiliate member of Habitat for Humanity of Washington State or a home in a Community Land Trust, and who earn no more than 65% of area median income, based on household size and county in which they are buying. See the charts below to determine 65% of Area Median Income for the borrower.
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
First of all, the study confirmed that state institutions played both active and passive roles in perpetuating housing discrimination against a range of marginalized groups. Secondly, it found that impacts of that discrimination are still felt today in the lower homeownership rates and net worth of many of those groups. Third, the research showed that without specifically aiming to help these groups that were excluded for so long, a program would be ineffective in remedying the disparities.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Study
Loan forgiveness does not require any additional state investment in the Covenant program. The Covenant program continues to be funded by the document recording fee established by the Covenant Homeownership Act in 2023.
When a loan is forgiven, it means that the amount of the loan will not eventually go back into the Covenant account to be loaned again, as happens when a loan is repaid. (In any case, loan repayments may take some time to return to the Covenant account, because many homebuyers intend to stay in their homes and build equity.)
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
Yes. Loan forgiveness will be offered to all homebuyers who earned no more than 80% of Area Median Income at the time they bought their home, provided they still own their home five years after purchase. (Additional restrictions may apply and will be published in the coming months before implementation of the new law.)
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
Within one year of loan closing, you will be notified in writing by the Commission and/or our loan servicer if forgiveness potentially applies to you.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
The Commission will post a chart with this information for 2024 and 2025 in the coming months, prior to the implementation of the new Covenant Homeownership Act trailer law. For the Covenant program, Area Median Income is based on the location of the home to be purchased.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
The new law offers forgiveness of the Covenant downpayment assistance loan to homebuyers who:
- Earned no more than 80% of Area Median Income at the time they bought their home; and
- Still own their home five years after purchase.
- Additional restrictions may apply; details will be published in the coming months.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
If you are under 80% AMI when you buy your home, your loan will be forgiven after five years of owning your home. The forgiveness applies only to the downpayment assistance loan, not to the main mortgage on the property.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
Regardless of income level, everyone who uses the Covenant program can afford to repay their mortgage and their downpayment assistance loan. But, for lower-income households, adding the option of loan forgiveness can help them sustain homeownership if their circumstances change after they buy their homes – for example, a change in employment that requires them to move to a different area.
Loan forgiveness or downpayment assistance grants were also recommended by the Covenant Homeownership Study as a significant path to both wealth-building for families and narrowing our state’s racial homeownership gap.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
Loan forgiveness simply means that when you (if an eligible homeowner) refinance, sell or pay off your home, the Covenant downpayment assistance loan does not need to be repaid, as it would otherwise. The forgiveness would apply only to the downpayment assistance loan, not to the main mortgage on the property.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
The Commission will publish a chart with this information in the coming months, prior to the implementation of the new income limit for the Covenant Homeownership Program. Area Median Income is based on the location of the home to be purchased.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
In our state’s high-cost real-estate market, steady low-to-moderate wage-earners with good credit struggle to buy their first home. Those earning above 100% of area median income still have a substantial need for downpayment assistance to afford a modest-cost home in the county where they live.
Also, as shown in the Covenant Homeownership Study, this group of homebuyers includes many households within the racial and ethnic groups impacted by housing discrimination.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
In April 2025, the state legislature passed H.B. 1696, amending the Covenant Homeownership Act in two significant ways:
- Increasing the eligibility income limit from 100% to 120% of Area Median Income
- Allowing the forgiveness of Covenant DPA loans for homebuyers earning under 80% Area Median Income who stay in their homes for at least five years.
The new law is effective Sunday, July 27, 2025.
• New Income Limit: On Monday, July 28, 2025, the program will be open to eligible homebuyers earning up to 120% of area median income.
• Loan forgiveness: Loan forgiveness will apply to all eligible Covenant homebuyers even if they purchase(d) their home before July 27, 2025.
Categories: 2025 Covenant Covenant Homeownership Program
For many years, Washington state mandated that county auditors record racially restrictive real-estate covenants. Legislators found it fitting that this same document-recording process should help remedy the harm created by these actions.
Categories: Covenant Act Covenant Homeownership Program
The Covenant Homeownership Program Study provided the foundation for a Special Purpose Credit Program that can benefit homebuyers affected by racial discrimination.
Categories: Covenant Act Covenant Homeownership Program
Homeownership is the cornerstone of the American dream. It is the primary way households build wealth, stability, and community and pass wealth down to future generations.
Yet in Washington, only 49% of BIPOC households in Washington are homeowners, compared with 68% of non-Hispanic white households. As is common where disparities exist, Black households fare even worse than other households of color: the homeownership rate for Black households is only 31%. Despite the Fair Housing Act and the end of “legal” discrimination, the national homeownership rate for Black households has not improved since 1960.
Research shows that these inequities did not arise by chance or because of individual choices. They are the result of policies and practices that favored white Washingtonians. Previous research has also shown that existing state and federal programs and other race-neutral approaches are insufficient to remedy this discrimination and its impacts. That is why the Covenant Homeownership Act proposes the first-in-the-nation use of a Special Purpose Credit Program by a government agency.
Categories: Covenant Act Covenant Homeownership Program
The Covenant Homeownership Act is a state law passed in the spring of 2023 to support homeownership for those affected by generations of systematic discriminatory housing policies and practices by Washington State. The act establishes an assistance program (Covenant Homeownership Program) based on an evidence-based study (Covenant Homeownership Program Study). A newly created account in the state treasury (Covenant Homeownership Account), funded by document recording assessments, is used for the purposes of the program and study.
Categories: Covenant Act Covenant Homeownership Program
Covenants are clauses that prevent, prohibit, restrict, or limit the actions of a person or entity named in a contract. As part of home deeds and required neighborhood agreements (like HOAs), covenants were commonly used between the 1920’s and 1960’s throughout Washington state to restrict housing based on race, religion, and ethnicity. A typical covenant required the signer to agree they would never allow a non-white or non-Christian person to buy or live in their home.
Black people were excluded in every racially restrictive covenant. Asian American Pacific Islanders, Latino/a/x, Jewish people, and other marginalized groups were also excluded. To date, nearly 50,000 racially restrictive covenants have been documented throughout Washington state by the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project of the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University. Learn more and read these covenants at the project website.
Categories: Covenant Act Covenant Homeownership Program
The researchers based their recommendations on evidence of two factors: not only racial discrimination by the state in the past, but also disparities in homeownership rates today. The study examined available data for each of the marginalized groups affected by past housing discrimination. While many groups of Washingtonians, such as those named in racist homeowner covenants, have suffered significant harms from housing discrimination, not all these groups continue to show significantly lower homeownership rates than white residents. Those that do are recommended for program eligibility.
Homebuyers in any of these recommended groups must also meet individual eligibility requirements (under the income limit, a resident of Washington before 1968 or descendant of such a resident, first-time homebuyer, etc.).
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The study recommends a Special Purpose Credit Program with a customized approach to downpayment assistance that allows people who have been impacted by discrimination to buy a home in their county.
Such a program has the flexibility to support homeownership in a way that a normal downpayment assistance program would not, in two ways. First, it could offer a large enough loan to make a home attainable in the county where they live for anyone who qualifies; and second, it would be exclusively available to groups who both suffered housing discrimination by state institutions in the past and continue to show the effects in disparities today. (The Covenant Homeownership Act includes additional specific eligibility requirements for individuals.)
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Study
NFHA and its local fair housing partners incorporated numerous points of active community engagement with stakeholders, from webinars and presentations to key informant interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Many Washington residents shared their personal and family experiences with housing discrimination. Summaries of these stories can be found in Chapters 1 and 2 of the study and in the appendices for these chapters.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Study
The Housing Finance Commission is required to submit an annual report to the legislature on the progress of the Covenant Homeownership Program by December 31, 2025, and by each following December 31. The Commission will complete an update to the Covenant Homeownership Program Study at least every five years to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and recommend Covenant Homeownership Program improvements.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The Washington State Housing Finance Commission designed, developed, and implemented the Covenant Homeownership Program and is responsible for its ongoing operations. The Commission was also responsible for overseeing the Covenant Homeownership Program Study that determined the details of the program.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
Yes! Downpayment assistance and other supports are available to low- and moderate-income homebuyers throughout the state.
Call the Washington State Homeownership Hotline at 1-877-894-4663 or visit www.homeownership-wa.org for information and resources tailored to your location, income, and specific needs.
Most homebuyers who earn under $180,000 a year can access financial assistance through the Housing Finance Commission’s range of downpayment assistance programs. You can also find a free homebuyer education class here to get started on your homebuying journey.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
If you are not quite ready for a mortgage, you can start on the path to homeownership with free, individual guidance from a housing counselor. Get connected through the Washington State Homeownership Hotline by calling 1-877-894-4663 or visiting www.homeownership-wa.org.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
Your lender and/or housing counselor will help you gather the documents. Some good sources include the following:
- Vital Records Department of the state Department of Health
- FamilySearch.org: Create a free account to search family records.
- Ancestry.com: This is a paid service, but you can often access Ancestry.com for free from your local library.
Public libraries:
o Find your local library here.
The Commission will continue to add resources to this section.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The Commission intends to be as flexible as possible in accepting documentation of race and pre-1968 residency in Washington. Again, the homebuyer must submit this documentation for the person who lived in Washington before 1968 — whether that person is the homebuyer themselves or their parent/grandparent/great-grandparent.
Some examples of acceptable documents include:
|
Birth & Death certificates School records Death certificates Church records Probate Records Newspaper clippings Marriage certificates Employer records Military records |
Genealogical records from reliable sources Tribal membership records Draft card Social Security Claims & Applications WA State Concealed Weapon License Census data Obituaries Historical Societies |
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
As with all Commission home loans, homebuyers must meet lender underwriting requirements, i.e. qualify for a home loan from a lending institution. You must also take a free homebuyer education class, either virtually or in person. Dozens of classes are taught each week by lenders and real-estate professionals across the state. Find one here.
Further, Covenant homebuyers must provide documentation of the residency and race/ethnicity of the person (whether the homebuyer themselves or their parent/grandparent/great-grandparent) who lived in Washington state before April 1968. The Housing counselors, Commission staff and other program partners are committed to helping homebuyers gather this documentation.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The Covenant Homeownership Act defines “first-time homebuyer” broadly. You may be eligible if:
- You have not owned a home within the past three years
- You are a single parent who has only owned a home while married to a former spouse.
- You are a displaced homemaker and have only owned a home with a spouse.
- You have only owned a residence that had no permanent foundation (such as a manufactured home)
- You only owned a property that was determined to be uninhabitable.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
As the study recommends, we are currently exploring how to expand eligibility. We intend to open a second phase of the program later this year as we uncover more data and information. This Phase II could allow participation by applicants outside the currently approved racial groups who are able to show past and ongoing impact by state-supported discrimination, as documented in Chapters 1 and 2 of the study.
People would still have to meet the program’s statutory requirements, including being a first-time homebuyer, earning no more than 100% of Area Median Income, and being either a pre-1968 resident of Washington state or a descendant of one.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The Covenant program’s initial eligibility criteria are intentionally narrowly tailored. While many racial, ethnic and religious groups in Washington were subject to unjust and egregious housing discrimination, the Covenant program considers not only this history but also its current impacts.
Some of the groups discriminated against continue to show much lower homeownership rates compared with the general white population. These are named in the initial eligibility criteria. However, for other groups (such as Jewish residents), the data is limited when it comes to documenting the lasting impacts of historical discrimination. Please see page 93 of the Covenant Homeownership Study for further information.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The program uses the Area Median Income (AMI) set by HUD for each county, which is updated every year. Use the AMI for the county in which you are buying the home. (Further income restrictions may apply depending on the first-mortgage program.)
| County | AMI | County | AMI | County | AMI | |||||
| Adams | $ 76,400 | Island | $112,300 | San Juan | $113,200 | |||||
| Asotin | $ 87,100 | Jefferson | $106,200 | Skagit | $111,600 | |||||
| Benton | $105,600 | King | $157,100 | Skamania | $124,100 | |||||
| Chelan | $96,500 | Kitsap | $124,300 | Snohomish | $157,100 | |||||
| Clallam | $ 90,400 | Kittitas | $107,700 | Spokane | $100,800 | |||||
| Clark | $124,100 | Klickitat | $ 93,500 | Stevens | $ 88,400 | |||||
| Columbia | $109,800 | Lewis | $ 92,100 | Thurston | $116,700 | |||||
| Cowlitz | $ 85,500 | Lincoln | $ 91,000 | Wahkiakum | $ 71,300 | |||||
| Douglas | $96,500 | Mason | $104,300 | Walla Walla | $ 97,900 | |||||
| Ferry | $ 80,700 | Okanogan | $ 78,200 | Whatcom | $108,400 | |||||
| Franklin | $105,600 | Pacific | $ 89,900 | Whitman | $ 98,300 | |||||
| Garfield | $ 86,500 | Pend Oreille | $ 83,400 | Yakima | $ 82,300 | |||||
| Grant | $ 91,700 | Pierce | $120,800 | |||||||
| Grays Harbor | $ 89,000 | |||||||||
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
In April 1968, the passage of the Fair Housing Act made racial discrimination in housing illegal. Discrimination persisted despite the new law; however, the state no longer had an official or legal role in enforcing and upholding it.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The Covenant Homeownership Program Oversight Committee, formed by the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), oversees and reviews the Commission’s activities and performance related to the Covenant Homeownership Program Study and the Covenant Homeownership Program. The oversight committee may also make recommendations to the legislature regarding the program.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
Starting in January 2024, the state collects a $100 document recording assessment on each real-estate transaction. The fee is projected to generate between $75 million and $100 million each year to be used for the Covenant Homeownership Program.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
The hotline is a free service of the nonprofit Washington Homeownership Resource Center (WHRC).
Call the Washington State Homeownership Hotline at 1-877-894-4663 to be connected to free support, guidance and financial help through the Covenant Homeownership Program and beyond.
The hotline can also share a wide range of other information and resources tailored to your location, income, and specific needs.
There is no separate application process for the Covenant Homeownership Program. Rather, you work with a Commission-trained lender to prequalify for a mortgage loan and establish your eligibility. The hotline will connect you with a lender based on your situation, goals and preferences. If you are not quite ready for a mortgage, the hotline will connect you with free support and guidance to get on the path to your goal, no matter where you are today.
Categories: Covenant Program
Call the Washington State Homeownership Hotline at 1-877-894-4663 to be connected to free support, guidance and financial help through the Covenant Homeownership Program and beyond.
There is no separate application process for the program. Rather, you work with a Commission-trained lender to prequalify for a mortgage loan and establish your eligibility. The hotline will connect you with a lender based on your situation, goals and preferences. If you are not quite ready for a mortgage, the hotline will connect you with free support and guidance to get on the path to your goal, no matter where you are today.
Categories: Covenant Program
The Covenant Homeownership Program provides downpayment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers in the form of a loan, secondary to the primary.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Program
If you are refinancing or want to pay off your mortgage or your downpayment assistance loan early, you must submit a payoff request to your loan servicer. (Your loan servicer is the entity to which you make your loan payments.) The payoff tells you exactly how much you still owe on your mortgage (the remaining balance). It might also include accrued interest or fees that you may owe.
To request a payoff for your Housing Finance Commission loan or downpayment assistance loan (also known as your second mortgage), contact your loan servicer directly (the entity to which you make your mortgage payments). Find the contact information for all our loan servicers here.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs
Yes, it can be reissued within the first twelve months of refinancing if the borrower meets guidelines. Please find the criteria here.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs
Government first mortgages are assumable if allowed per agency guidelines and meet Commission criteria. Downpayment assistance loans are not assumable.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
No.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
All borrowers who will be signing on both the Note and the Deed of Trust must attend the class. That means each person will need their own certificate of completion. Take a look at our Homebuyer Education class schedule.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
Please email homedocs@wshfc.org to request a rush on a submitted file.
Categories: Lender FAQs
No, Target Areas are only relevant to the House Key Opportunity program. See the Target Area map here.
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
Real estate professionals are not required to complete any type of training to assist clients purchase or sell a home.
Categories: Real Estate Pro FAQs
No. Your lender training is broken up into two parts – you can take the second part no later than 12 months of taking the first training. They can be done on different dates.
Categories: Lender FAQs New Lender FAQs
It’s easy to become a participating lender! Click here for information.
Categories: New Lender FAQs
Just sign up for our Initial Training for Homeownership Professionals on our Training page. After completing the two half-days of training, you’ll be approved to teach Commission-sponsored homebuyer education classes.
Keep in mind, you will need a teaching partner. All our classes are taught in tandem by both a lender and a real-estate professional. We can help you find a co-instructor, if you need one!
Categories: Instructor FAQs New Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Household annual income must not exceed $180,000 (statewide).
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
The Commission cannot provide payoff statements. Contact the borrower’s first-mortgage loan servicer directly for a payoff statement for both the first and the second mortgage loan, as they service both. Find the contact information for all our loan servicers here.
If you are still unable to receive a payoff from the servicer, please contact the Commission.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs
Once your loan is approved to close, you can locate the Legal Opinion Letter in Lender Online. It is the second page of the DPA Commitment Letter.
Categories: Lender FAQs
We have no overlays on this issue. Please check with your own lending institution’s compliance department.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Yes, marijuana industry employment is acceptable for Fannie Mae loans. Lender must follow all agency guidelines.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Please contact the loan servicer of the first mortgage loan to obtain a copy of the mortgage Note.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs
See today’s rates on our Rates page!
Categories: Lender FAQs
We strive for 24 – 48-hour turnaround times, depending on loan file volume. We review files Monday through Friday excluding holidays and weekends.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Is it possible that you changed companies and forgot to inform us? If so, please fill out this form and one of our staff will follow up with you. If not, please email homedocs@wshfc.org or call 206-287-4400 and ask for the Homeownership Division.
Categories: Lender FAQs
If your borrower has lived in the property they are purchasing for more than 12 months, they may write us a letter asking for a waiver. The letter should include an explanation of why they do not want an inspection and a statement that they are satisfied with the condition of the property and hold the Commission harmless.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Find a training here.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Please submit a reservation change request form. Once a reservation has been completed, the lender cannot make additional changes in Lender Online.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Once you’ve completed your training and have your reservation codes, you’ll use our online reservation portal, Lender Online.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Just keep closing our loans! Our website showcases the top 10 loan producers from the previous calendar year as our Premier Partners, including a photo, brief profile, and contact information. We also highlight the top five LOs in each region by quarter, with a minimum of two Commission loans closed and purchased in the previous quarter.
Categories: Lender FAQs
You may request either a digital copy or a certified printed copy of your MCC. Click here for instructions.
Categories: Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs
To view loan status and conditions, login to Lender Online and use your reservation number to retrieve your reservation. From the Actions Menu select “View.” The following screen will provide current loan terms, status, outstanding conditions and the name of the Commission file reviewer.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Our programs allow single-unit condo project approval. Lenders to follow agency guidelines.
Categories: Lender FAQs
No. We only underwrite loans for the Commission’s own program guidelines.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Email homedocs@wshfc.org or call 206-287-4400 and ask for the Homeownership Division.
Categories: Lender FAQs
The Commission does not have overlays. Please follow investor guidelines.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Yes, we allow POAs. Follow agency guidelines and documentation requirements.
Categories: Lender FAQs
If the borrower used the correct link from the Commission’s website and has misplaced their eHomeAmerica certificate, please contact eHomeAmerica directly at 844-243-4663 or support@ehomenetwork.org. Include the name(s), email and phone used to sign up for the class in the request.
Categories: Lender FAQs
The Commission accepts DACA-status borrowers on the Home Advantage and House Key Opportunity FHA, VA, and Fannie Mae HFA Preferred products. DACA status borrowers are not eligible for Freddie Mac HFA Advantage loans and USDA.
Categories: Home Advantage House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs
The Home Advantage DPA program allows a borrower to own another home at the time of closing per agency guidelines as long as: 1) it was not financed through the Commission, and 2) the borrower intends to occupy the new home.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
If completed within the last six months, an inspection report given to the buyer from the seller or a previous buyer may be acceptable in lieu of a new inspection. The buyer must submit a written request to waive a new inspection. The buyer must state in the request that they reviewed the report, are satisfied with the condition of the property per the report, and hold the Commission harmless.
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Leasehold properties are acceptable with the exception of Manufactured Homes. Please follow agency underwriting guidelines.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
ADUs are acceptable as long as the property is zoned and appraised as a one-unit property with an ADU. Under the House Key Opportunity program, a buyer may not rent out any portion of the home or ADU.
Categories: House Key Opportunity
We define a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned AND occupied a primary residence at any time in the past three years. If you purchase a home in a Target Area or are an honorably discharged Veteran, you do not have to be a first-time homebuyer.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity
Our downpayment assistance is only for homebuyers who use our home loan programs, either Home Advantage or House Key Opportunity. If your household income is under the program limits (up to $180,000) and you are otherwise qualified for a home loan, you are probably eligible. Connect with a Commission-trained lender today, or find a free homebuyer education class near you!
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity
You can use our Home Advantage home loans to purchase a one-unit single-family home, a townhome, a condominium, a manufactured home, or a two-unit (duplex) single-family home.
Categories: Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
You can use our House Key Opportunity home loans to purchase a one-unit single family home, town home, condominium, or a manufactured home.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Target areas are census tracts that meet federal guidelines as economically distressed. Under the House Key Opportunity program, if you purchase a home in a target area, some restrictions and limits are eased. See Washington’s targeted areas on the map here.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs
House Key Opportunity income limits are set by county and household size, and also vary for those purchasing a home in a target area. Explore the income limits.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity Lender FAQs
Home Advantage is our most flexible program, with one income limit statewide. House Key Opportunity offers more help to households with lower incomes. Both programs offer multiple options for downpayment assistance.
Categories: Lender FAQs
The House Key Opportunity program requires all borrowers to be first time buyers unless you are purchasing in a target area or are a Veteran with an honorable discharge. A first-time buyer is defined as someone who has not owned AND occupied a home as their primary residence in the last three years. You do not need to be a first-time homebuyer under the Home Advantage program.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs House Key Opportunity
Home Advantage allows non-occupant co-borrowers if allowed per agency guidelines, but House Key Opportunity requires all borrowers to occupy the subject property.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Yes. All buyers who are on the Note and Deed of Trust, whether occupants or not, non-occupant co-borrowers, as well as occupant buyers, must complete a Commission-sponsored Homebuyer Education class prior to loan reservation.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Loan officers can reserve/lock a loan after all borrowers have taken a Commission-sponsored homebuyer education class and have a fully executed purchase and sale agreement. Be sure homebuyer education class is taken BEFORE the lender makes a reservation of funds or the reservation will be considered invalid and will be subject to worst-case pricing. Please check with your corporate office regarding locking your loan, as each lending institution will have their own internal guidelines.
Categories: Lender FAQs
You don’t need to worry about the homebuyer spending their funds or their gift not coming through at closing. Our funds are guaranteed. You will not have to worry about the borrower spending their downpayment or having to source a borrower’s gift funds. We will be there when your borrower is ready to close.
Categories: Real Estate Pro FAQs
Your best first step is to take a free Homebuyer Education Class. The class is required to use our programs, and your certificate is valid for two years. Then connect with a Commission Trained Loan Officer to pre-qualify for a home and start looking for a home in your price range!
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs
Home Advantage is a loan program that offers downpayment assistance and competitive interest rates to families earning up to $180,000 a year. Your lender will qualify you on a typical 30-year mortgage loan using our interest rate. You can also get help with the downpayment and closing costs — between 3-5% of the mortgage loan amount.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
FREE in-person and virtual homebuyer education classes are offered almost every day in every part of the state by our partnering loan officers and real-estate professionals. Learn more and find a free class here.
You can also learn at your own pace with a $50 online self-study course from eHome America.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs
Home Advantage offers competitive rates as well as downpayment and closing-cost assistance, for a lower monthly mortgage payment.
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Visit the Homebuyer Education Instructor Page and follow the instructions to set up a homebuyer education class (after you have completed training and received approval). Just let us know if you need assistance. If you haven’t received approval yet, request it here.
Categories: Instructor FAQs
You don’t need to save up 10% before you can think about homeownership. Our downpayment assistance can fill the gap with no-cost and low-cost loans.
Categories: Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Participating Lenders qualify, process, and underwrite your loan. The Commission does not make the loan directly to you. Just connect with a Commission-trained loan officer to get started!
Categories: Homebuyer FAQs
Class certificates, evaluation and participant registration forms are emailed to you the evening that your class is approved.
Categories: Instructor FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Target areas apply to our House Key Opportunity program (not Home Advantage). Just use the map on our Income Limits page: Enter the address of the home and the map will show whether it is in a Target Area. The page also shows House Key Opportunity income limits for each county.
Categories: Lender FAQs
Register for an upcoming class here.
Categories: Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
We can help you connect with a lender! Please contact our program manager at Corinna.Obar@wshfc.org.
Categories: Real Estate Pro FAQs
No. The Home Advantage loan program uses no taxpayer dollars.
Categories: Home Advantage
Funds for the Home Advantage program are continuously available and are subject to market rates and conditions. If you have questions about the Home Advantage Program, please call us at 800.767.4663 or email info@heretohome.org or Corinna.Obar@wshfc.org.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Home Advantage Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
Yes. Please follow agency guidelines for age and size.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Homebuyer FAQs Lender FAQs
Ask your lender or fill in this quick form with information about your location, household size and income. One of our Homeownership staff will reply with recommendations just for you.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Homebuyer FAQs
Yes. The interest rate is very low, from 0% to 4% depending on the program. It is wrapped into your main home mortgage, so you don’t have two bills to pay. Also, most of our downpayment loans are payment deferred” meaning no payment is due until the mortgage is paid off or until you sell, transfer, move out of or refinance the property.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Homebuyer FAQs Homeowner FAQs Lender FAQs
It varies by program, but $15,000 is the average amount for a typical homebuyer.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance Homebuyer FAQs
Marketing materials can be found here.
Categories: Instructor FAQs Lender FAQs Real Estate Pro FAQs
The Covenant Homeownership Act begins the process of remedying past and ongoing discrimination and its impacts on access to credit and homeownership for BIPOC and other historically marginalized communities in Washington state. It does not represent a formal reparations effort. The United Nations has defined reparations as including five conditions, defined here.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program
The racial homeownership gap will persist without specific intervention that goes beyond “colorblind” or “race-neutral” assistance. A Special Purpose Credit Program can be race-conscious, allowing our state to directly remedy the harm caused by its discriminatory policies and practices.
Until now, only private businesses have utilized Special Purpose Credit Programs to remedy harm caused by their actions. The Covenant Homeownership Act is the first programmatic use by a government agency to remove persistent structural barriers to homeownership.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program
Special Purpose Credit Programs were made available by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 to benefit a specific class of persons who share common characteristics (for example, race, national origin, or sex). They are an important tool in expanding fair access to credit, particularly for consumers and communities impacted by discrimination.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program
The Covenant Homeownership Act is unique because it began with an extensive stakeholder and community engagement process. In September 2022, the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County (HDC) convened more than 50 stakeholders across multiple sectors who worked together to examine barriers to homeownership as well as policy options that could address these barriers. These comprehensive conversations with possible bill sponsors and champions resulted in a set of suggestions for the legislation.
In addition to shaping the legislation, the stakeholder and community engagement process ensured strong and effective advocacy that led to the bill’s passage.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program
If you’re ready to start your journey toward homeownership now, we encourage you to call the Washington Homeownership Resource Center (WHRC) at 1-877-894-4663 or visit their website at www.homeownership-wa.org.
The Housing Finance Commission also offers home-loan and downpayment assistance programs. You can also find a free homebuyer education class here to get started on your homebuying journey.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program
As the result of a competitive Request for Proposals process in 2023, National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its research partners were selected to conduct the study, overseen by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (Commission).
- The National Fair Housing Alliance, the lead consultant, has a 33-year history of documenting historical and current discrimination to identify, eliminate and remedy the harms that have resulted. They also bring significant expertise with special-purpose credit programs.
- Abt Associates, the key research partner in the study, is a mission-driven research and consulting firm with deep expertise in publicly administered homeownership programs, data analysis, and fair housing.
- NFHA and Abt will also be joined by two Washington state groups with years of knowledge and expertise in fighting housing discrimination in our state. The Northwest Fair Housing Alliance (NWFHA), serving central and eastern Washington, and the Fair Housing Center of Washington (FHCW), based in western Washington, will subcontract with NFHA to assist in documenting specific historical discrimination against marginalized groups in Washington.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Study
The study is the first, crucial step in the development of Covenant Homeownership Act assistance programs. This evidence-based research study will investigate housing discrimination against marginalized communities in Washington State, what role government institutions have had in the discrimination, the impacts of the discrimination, and what specific assistance would be likely to remedy these impacts.
Categories: Covenant Homeownership Program Covenant Study
Ask your lender—or, fill in this quick form with information about your location, household size and income. One of our Homeownership staff will reply with recommendations just for you.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance
If you refinance, you will need to pay off the WSHFC downpayment assistance loan (the second mortgage). The Commission does not subordinate our loans to other loans. In order to request a DPA loan payoff, please contact the loan servicer of your main home mortgage. The loan servicer is the entity to which you make your loan payments. Visit our Payoff Request page to learn more and find the contact information for all our loan servicers.
Categories: Downpayment Assistance