Your Choice! Down Payment Assistance (DPA)
Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) — the state housing finance agency, via myohiohome.org
Amount: 3% of the home's purchase price for conventional loans, or 3.5% for government loans (FHA/VA/USDA), applied toward down payment, closing costs, or other pre-closing costs. Structured as a non-amortizing forgivable second loan: fully forgiven after 7 years; if the home is sold, refinanced, or transferred within 7 years, the full assistance amount must be repaid. Note: several third-party mortgage/SEO sites currently advertise '2.5% or 5%' options for this program, but the official OHFA/myohiohome.org program page (as fetched) states 3%/3.5% — treat the 2.5%/5% figures as unverified/possibly outdated until confirmed directly with an OHFA-approved lender.
Type: Forgivable second mortgage (0% interest, no monthly payment) paired with an OHFA first mortgage
Must use it with an OHFA first-mortgage loan (FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional); must meet OHFA income limits and purchase price limits, which vary by county and household size (published in OHFA's 'Income and Purchase Price Limits by County' document); minimum credit score 640 for conventional/USDA/VA and 650 for FHA; must complete free OHFA homebuyer education course; generally must not have owned or had ownership interest in a primary residence in the last 3 years (OHFA's first-time buyer definition), though this requirement is waived in target areas or for OHFA's Next Home (repeat-buyer) variant.
Grants for Grads
Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA)
Amount: Same DPA structure as Your Choice! (3% conventional / 3.5% government loans of purchase price), plus a discounted mortgage interest rate for eligible recent graduates; forgiven after 5 years of continued Ohio residency in the home (repayable if sold/refinanced/moved out of state within that period)
Type: Discounted-rate first mortgage + forgivable DPA second loan
Must have graduated within the last 48 months with an associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, or other postsecondary degree from an accredited institution; must not have owned/had ownership interest in a primary residence in the last 3 years; minimum credit score 640; must meet OHFA income and purchase price limits by county; must complete homebuyer education
Ohio Heroes
Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA)
Amount: Discounted mortgage interest rate (approximately 0.25 percentage points below standard OHFA rate) plus the same DPA options as Your Choice! (3% / 3.5% of purchase price), forgiven after 7 years
Type: Discounted-rate first mortgage + forgivable DPA second loan
Must work in an eligible public-service profession (teachers, nurses/medical professionals, police, firefighters, EMTs, military/veterans, and other first responders); minimum credit score typically 640 (some lenders may accept 620+); must meet OHFA income/purchase price limits by county; must be a first-time homebuyer under OHFA's 3-year rule; homebuyer education required