First-time home buyer loans in Kentucky. Compare low down payment loans and available assistance.

Planning your down payment and closing costs

You don't need a 20% down payment for every mortgage. The amount you need depends on the loan program, your eligibility, and how much cash you want to keep after closing. We can look at the down payment and the closing costs together.

That 20% figure hasn't been a requirement in decades. Conventional loans start at 3% down. FHA is 3.5%. USDA and VA can be zero down. And on top of any of those, I can layer down payment assistance to cover the part you're short. That applies in Louisville and for the buyers I work with as a mortgage broker in Lexington.

How down payment assistance works here

I offer options to help with the down payment and closing costs, including grants that don't require repayment. I also have down payment assistance programs that can be paired with FHA, conventional and other first mortgage types. I'll explain the specific options that fit you when we talk.

A few things to know before you go looking for numbers online:

• Read the repayment terms. Some assistance has to be paid back and some doesn't, and the terms change how long you should plan on staying in the house. I walk you through the terms of whichever program we use.
• The limits move. Income limits and purchase-price limits get revised, and they differ by county. A figure from two years ago isn't something to make decisions on.
• The income limits are higher than people assume. A steady share of buyers who already decided they earn too much turn out to qualify.
• It sits on top of a normal loan. The assistance pairs with a regular FHA, conventional or other first mortgage. You get both.

Because those figures change, I don't print them here. What I'll do is pull the current program limits for the county you're buying in and tell you where you land. That takes about five minutes and it's a lot more useful than a number from a search result.

Which loan the assistance sits on top of

The answer changes from one household to the next. Here's how I think about each one.

FHA

The most common pairing. FHA loans in Kentucky ask 3.5% down and are the most forgiving on credit history, so they're the natural base when the credit file has some history to it. The trade-off is mortgage insurance that, on most FHA loans made today, stays for the life of the loan unless you refinance out of it later.

Conventional

Conventional loans in Kentucky start at 3% down for eligible buyers, and the mortgage insurance drops off once you've built enough equity. With a strong credit score this is often the cheaper option over the years you own the home, even when the starting rate looks about the same.

USDA

If the address qualifies, and a surprising share of the ring around Louisville does, a USDA loan in Kentucky needs no down payment at all. That changes what assistance would even be for: closing costs instead of a down payment, and whether the program we're using can go toward those is one of the things I check. Shelbyville, Taylorsville, Mt. Washington, Bardstown and much of Oldham, Bullitt, Nelson and Spencer County are worth checking.

VA

For eligible service members and veterans, a VA loan in Kentucky is almost always the strongest option: no down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance, and competitive pricing. If you have the benefit, start there.

What happens first

A conversation, not an application. I'll want to know roughly what you earn, roughly what you owe each month, what you've got saved, and where you're hoping to buy. From that I can tell you which programs are in play and what a realistic price range looks like, before anything touches your credit and before you commit to anything.

If some preparation would improve your options, we'll go over the specific steps and timing alongside any financing that's available now.

What to have handy for the first conversation

Nothing formal. A rough monthly income figure (gross, before tax) and the minimum payments on anything you owe each month. A sense of what's in savings, including anything a family member has offered to put in. The counties or towns you're looking in, since assistance limits and USDA eligibility both depend on that. And whether you or a co-borrower has ever served in the military, because a VA loan in Kentucky changes the whole answer and people forget to bring it up.

I can work from that in a single call. The paperwork comes later, and only once you've decided to move forward.