Michigan down payment assistance, compared honestly
7 programs, from $4,500 to $25,000 — 5 never repaid, 2 repaid in full when you sell. Programs we cannot originate are listed anyway, including where they beat ours: a comparison that never concedes is not one you can trust.
Check your numbers against all 7
All 7 programs side by side
| Program | Provider | Amount | Repayment | Credit floor | Closes via |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPA Advantage | eLEND | 2%/3.5% of price | Never repaid | 620 | ClosingReady |
| FHA $100 Down | eLEND | 3.5% down -> $100 | Never repaid | — | ClosingReady |
| Purchase Plus | Rocket Mortgage | $4,500 + 1% of loan | Never repaid | — | ClosingReady |
| ONE+ | Rocket Mortgage | 2% of price, max $7,000 | Never repaid | — | ClosingReady |
| Detroit Down Payment Assistance | City of Detroit | $25,000 | Never repaid | — | Confirm participation before relying on it |
| MI 10K DPA Loan | MSHDA | $10,000 | Repaid at sale | 640 | Referred out |
| First-Generation DPA | MSHDA | $25,000 | Repaid at sale | 640 | Referred out |
Affiliated business arrangement: Closing Ready Mortgage LLC is owned 100% by Cyrus Wheeler, who also owns Match Real Estate, LLC (dba Match Realty). A referral to Closing Ready may provide Match Realty and/or Cyrus Wheeler a financial or other benefit. You are not required to use Closing Ready, and you are free to shop around.
Amounts are maximums, not quotes. Every program page lists what its issuer has not yet confirmed — those unknowns are printed, not assumed away.
Eligibility is nearly universal — until prices outrun the caps
Of the 36,357 Southeast Michigan sales evaluated by Down Payment Resource in the last 12 months, 96.2% were flagged as potentially matching at least one assistance program. In most communities the answer to "are DPA-eligible homes available here" is simply yes. Where it stops being yes is where prices exceed program caps:
| City | County | Flagged eligible | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | Oakland | 52% | 163 of 313 |
| Bloomfield Township | Oakland | 62% | 85 of 136 |
| Oakland Township | Oakland | 66% | 101 of 153 |
| Bloomfield Hills | Oakland | 69% | 267 of 389 |
| Northville Township | Wayne | 73% | 147 of 201 |
| Salem Township | Washtenaw | 75% | 27 of 36 |
| Addison Township | Oakland | 79% | 27 of 34 |
| Bruce Township | Macomb | 80% | 31 of 39 |
| Rochester | Oakland | 84% | 128 of 153 |
| Milford Township | Oakland | 85% | 115 of 136 |
| Washington Township | Macomb | 85% | 122 of 144 |
| Lyon Township | Oakland | 88% | 199 of 226 |
Down Payment Resource's flag means a listing may match at least one of hundreds of national and local programs — an indicator, not a promise, and it says nothing about which program or your own eligibility. 67.0% of the window's 54,263 closed sales carried the flag either way; unevaluated sales are excluded from every percentage here. Realcomp closed sales, 12 months to 2026-09-01.
Common questions
Is down payment assistance free money?
Sometimes. Of the 7 programs here, 5 are never repaid (grants or reduced-down structures) and 2 are deferred loans repaid in full when you sell or refinance. A $10,000 loan you repay is different money from a $7,000 grant you keep — the table says which is which.
Do I have to be a first-time buyer to get assistance?
Mostly no. Only Rocket's Purchase Plus requires first-time status here. MSHDA's First-Generation DPA turns on whether your parents owned a home in the last 3 years — a different test many repeat renters pass.
Is the Detroit $25,000 program still available?
It is first-come, first-served against a fixed pot of federal funds, and it requires a signed purchase agreement plus lender pre-qualification to apply — so confirm funding remains before writing an offer that depends on it.
Can I combine down payment assistance with these calculators?
That is the point of this site: assistance covers the down payment, but the year-two uncapped tax bill and escrow jump arrive regardless. Run the uncapping and escrow calculators on the same house before you commit.
Assistance covers the down payment. The uncapped year-two tax bill and the escrow jump arrive regardless — run both on the same house.