Most first-time buyers in the Capital Region walk in believing they need 20% down. You don't. Between SONYMA's down payment assistance, FHA at 3.5%, conventional at 3%, and VA at zero, the real question isn't whether you can buy — it's which program costs you the least over the years you'll own the house. That's the conversation I want to have.
“The mistake I see most often isn't buying too soon. It's a buyer who qualified for down payment assistance, never heard about it, and drained their savings to close. Ask the question before you write an offer.”
Brian MarchandSr. Loan Consultant · NMLS #481563
These are the real down payment floors, not marketing numbers. Which one is cheapest depends on your credit, your income, and how long you plan to stay.
Zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance, no income limit. If you have entitlement, nothing else competes. VA loans.
Three percent down with PMI that cancels at 20% equity. Best long-term math if your credit is 700+. Conventional.
A low-rate loan paired with down payment assistance money. Income and price caps apply. SONYMA.
First-time buyer status generally means you haven't had an ownership interest in a primary residence for three years — so more people qualify than realize it.
The most common file I close. You have $10-15K and you think that’s not enough. On a $250K house at 3.5% down, it usually is.
SONYMA pairs a competitive rate with assistance funds. This is the program most people have never heard of and most need.
FHA underwrites the whole story rather than just the score. A 620 with steady income buys a house in this market.
On FHA, 100% of your down payment and closing costs can be a gift from family. The paperwork is one page. Gift funds.
You may count as a first-time buyer again. Worth asking rather than assuming. Divorce & your mortgage.
Buy a 2-4 family, live in one unit, rent the others — and the projected rent helps you qualify. Still 3.5% down on FHA.
Six to eight weeks from pre-approval to keys is normal in this market. Here's the sequence, and where the programs get decided.
Credit, income, assets. I run you against every program you qualify for and tell you your real price ceiling — including the assistance you may not know about.
You get a written pre-approval and a price cap per program, so you know exactly where SONYMA stops if you end up in a bidding war.
I call the listing agent the same day. In a multiple-offer situation, a lender who picks up the phone is worth real money to your offer.
Appraisal, underwriting, clear-to-close, keys. You get the do-not-do list up front so nothing derails it late.
Typical guardrails, not promises — every file is different. When you call I’ll tell you where you actually sit on each line.
| Program | Minimum down | Credit floor | Mortgage insurance | Income limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA | 0% | No set floor — 580+ typical | None, ever | No limit |
| SONYMA | As little as 3% + DPA funds | 620 typical | Varies by structure | Yes — county & household size |
| FHA | 3.5% (580+) · 10% (500-579) | 500 with compensating factors | UFMIP + monthly MIP, life of loan under 10% down | No limit |
| Conventional 97 | 3% | 620 hard floor | PMI, cancels at 20% equity | HomeReady has one; standard does not |
| USDA | 0% | 620 typical | Guarantee fee + annual fee | Yes — household, incl. non-borrowers |
Assistance programs trade cash help for income caps, price caps, and recapture terms. Sometimes the plain loan is the better deal, and I'd rather tell you that.
SONYMA and most grant programs cap household income by county. Above the cap you're a standard buyer — which is fine, and conventional 3% down is a strong product.
Check the limits →Conventional loans →VA beats every first-time buyer program available: zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance, no income limit, no price cap.
VA loans →The caps and recapture terms aren't worth it. Take the conventional loan and the cleaner, faster process.
Conventional loans →Assistance programs add an agency review step. On a hot listing, a fast FHA or conventional approval may be worth more than the grant.
FHA loans →That disqualifies you from most first-time programs — including if you owned with an ex-spouse. Exceptions exist; ask before assuming.
Divorce & your mortgage →These programs require the home to be livable. If it needs a roof and a kitchen, that's a renovation loan.
Renovation loans →You probably have more usable income than the online calculator told you. This is where a real pre-approval differs from an instant one by tens of thousands of dollars.
Student loans are the other big one: an income-driven plan showing $0 doesn’t mean $0 to every program, and each calculates it differently. Picking the right program for your student debt can swing your approval by six figures.
Almost every denial I see on a first purchase comes from something that happened after the pre-approval, not before it.
A car, a financed furniture package, a credit card for moving costs. Lenders re-pull credit days before closing and a $450 payment can flip your ratio to a decline.
You get the do-not-do list the day you're pre-approved, and I build ratio cushion into the approval. If it already happened, we restructure fast.
Money from family without a gift letter, Venmo transfers, cash saved at home. Underwriting either papers each deposit or subtracts it from your funds.
We review 60 days of statements at pre-approval and source everything before it matters. Gifts get a proper letter before the money moves.
First-time buyers are often buying older Capital Region housing stock — exactly the homes with condition findings. FHA and SONYMA both hold the property to standards.
I read the listing photos before you write and tell you what an appraiser will flag, then get repair language into the contract so the seller cures it.
Household income over the county cap, purchase price over the limit, or the homebuyer education course never completed.
I run eligibility before you shop and hand you your real price ceiling. The education course link goes out week one so it's never the holdup.
A promotion, a new employer, or a switch from salary to commission between application and closing. Even a better job can require re-underwriting.
Tell me before you accept anything. Most job changes are survivable when I know in advance.
An IBR plan at $0 isn't $0 to every underwriter. A careless pre-approval uses the wrong number and the file fails at underwriting.
I calculate student loans the way each program requires and choose the program whose method works best for your file.
Already been denied somewhere else? Here's how I take over a dead file →
No, and this is the single most expensive myth in the business. FHA is 3.5%, conventional is 3%, VA and USDA are zero, and SONYMA adds assistance money on top. Twenty percent down avoids mortgage insurance — that’s the only thing it does. Waiting years to save it, while rents and prices rise, usually costs more than the insurance would have.
Down payment plus closing costs, which run roughly 3-5% of the price in New York — including attorney fees, title, the NY mortgage recording tax, and prepaid taxes and insurance. On a $250K FHA purchase, budget somewhere around $17-21K all in. Then subtract seller concessions (up to 6% on FHA) and any assistance you qualify for. Plenty of my buyers close for far less than that.
620 opens conventional. 580 opens FHA at 3.5% down. 500 opens FHA at 10% down with compensating factors. Below that we work on credit first — and a 40-point improvement is often three months of specific moves, not years. Here’s the plan I use.
Probably. Most programs define it as no ownership interest in a primary residence for the last three years. Owned a rental? Sometimes still fine. Owned with an ex-spouse? Ask — there are divorce-related exceptions worth checking.
It depends entirely on your income and your timeline. SONYMA gives you assistance money and a competitive rate but caps income and price and carries a recapture period. FHA has no caps and closes faster. I run both and show you the actual five-year cost side by side.
Yes — a gift. On FHA, 100% of your down payment and closing costs can be gifted. If they want to help you qualify rather than just fund the down payment, they can be a non-occupying co-borrower instead. Two different tools for two different problems.
SONYMA and some other assistance programs require an approved course — typically a few hours online. It’s genuinely useful and it’s free or low-cost. I send the link the week we start so it never delays your closing.
Yes, and it’s one of the smartest moves available. FHA allows 3.5% down on a 2-4 unit if you live in one, and projected rent from the other units helps you qualify. Your tenants cover a big share of your mortgage. More on multi-family.
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