Virginia Housing offers three separate assistance instruments to Richmond-area buyers, and almost everyone who calls us about them has merged two or three of them into one thing in their head. They are not one thing. One of them is a gift toward your down payment, one is a gift toward your closing costs, and one is a second mortgage you actually have to pay back.
That last distinction is the whole article. Getting it wrong is how a buyer ends up surprised at the closing table by a second monthly payment they thought was a grant.
The three, in one sentence each
Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Grant: reduces your down payment to 1%, the money is a true gift with no repayment, and first-time buyer status is required.
Closing Cost Assistance (CCA) Grant: aimed at the closing costs rather than the down payment, could eliminate the funds you need at closing, also a true gift with no repayment, first-time buyer status required.
Plus Second Mortgage: 0% down payment, but it is a 30-year fixed-rate second mortgage rather than a gift, and it is open to first-time and repeat buyers.
Side by side, with the Richmond MSA numbers attached
| DPA Grant | CCA Grant | Plus Second Mortgage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Cuts the down payment to 1% | Could eliminate funds needed at closing | Eliminates the down payment entirely (0% down) |
| Gift or loan? | True gift, no repayment | True gift, no repayment | Loan. A 30-year fixed-rate second mortgage |
| First-time buyer required? | Yes | Yes | No. First-time and repeat buyers |
| Richmond MSA income limit | $96,000 for 2 or fewer people; $110,000 for 3 or more (all household member income) | $96,000 for 2 or fewer people; $110,000 for 3 or more (all household member income) | Virginia Housing standard limits: $120,000 for 2 or fewer; $138,000 for 3 or more |
| Richmond MSA sales price / loan limit | $550,000 | $550,000 | Takes the limit of the first mortgage it sits behind |
| Extra borrowing capacity | None | None | Qualified buyers can borrow 1.5% more than the sales price |
| Pairs with other assistance? | Can be paired with other non-Virginia Housing down payment assistance | Can be paired with other non-Virginia Housing assistance | Sits behind a Virginia Housing first mortgage |
Every figure in that table comes from Virginia Housing’s home loan options page and its income and sales price / loan limits page, effective 8/1/2026. None of it is our estimate.
The DPA Grant: 1% down, and the money does not come back
The DPA Grant is the instrument most people mean when they say “the Virginia Housing programme.” It reduces the required down payment to 1%, it lowers the monthly housing payment as a consequence of financing less, and Virginia Housing describes the grant itself as a true gift with no repayment required. There is no lien behind it, no second note, and no recapture schedule described on the loan options page.
Two constraints define who can use it. First, first-time buyer status is required. Second, the income ceiling is the tightest of the three tracks: in the Richmond MSA, $96,000 for a household of two or fewer people and $110,000 for three or more. Note the phrasing on Virginia Housing’s own table: for the grant and Standard/Bond tracks, the ceiling applies to all household member income, not just the income of the people on the loan application. A working adult child or a parent living in the house can put a household over the line even if their name never appears on the mortgage.
The DPA Grant can also be paired with down payment assistance that does not come from Virginia Housing, which matters for buyers stacking an employer or locality programme on top.
The CCA Grant: aimed at the closing table, not the down payment
The CCA Grant answers a different problem. Plenty of Richmond buyers have a down payment sitting in a savings account and then discover that closing costs are a second, separate pile of money. Virginia Housing describes the CCA Grant as potentially eliminating the funds needed for closing, and like the DPA Grant it is a true gift with no repayment.
Its eligibility rules mirror the DPA Grant: first-time buyer required, the same $96,000 and $110,000 Richmond MSA ceilings on all household member income, and it can be combined with non-Virginia Housing assistance.
The practical difference is which first mortgage it attaches to, covered below. If your obstacle is the 3% or 3.5% down payment, the DPA Grant is the instrument. If your obstacle is the cash needed on closing day, the CCA Grant is. Our breakdown of closing costs in Richmond for 2026 sets out what that second pile actually consists of.
Free: the Richmond closing-timeline checklist
Assistance programmes add steps, and the steps have deadlines. Our Richmond closing-timeline checklist lays out what has to happen in what order between ratified contract and settlement, including where a grant or a second mortgage adds an approval step. Ask us for the closing-timeline checklist and we will send it over.
The Plus Second Mortgage: 0% down, and it is debt
The Plus Second Mortgage gets to a 0% down payment, which is a better headline than 1%. It gets there by a completely different mechanism: a second mortgage behind your first, on a 30-year fixed rate. It is not a gift. You will make payments on it.
What you get in exchange is real. It is open to repeat buyers as well as first-time buyers, which neither grant is. Its income ceilings are Virginia Housing’s standard limits rather than the grant limits, which in the Richmond MSA means $120,000 for two or fewer people and $138,000 for three or more. And qualified buyers can borrow 1.5% more than the sales price, which is the feature that can cover closing costs out of the loan instead of out of your savings.
Two constraints that are easy to miss. Virginia Housing states that the Plus Second Mortgage takes the income and sales price limit of the first mortgage it sits behind, and that loan amounts including financed guaranty fees or mortgage insurance premiums plus a Virginia Housing second mortgage cannot exceed its sales price limits. In the Richmond MSA that ceiling is $550,000, so the 1.5% extra borrowing capacity is not a way around the cap.
Which first mortgage each one attaches to
This is where buyers get stuck, because the assistance is not a loan on its own. It rides on a Virginia Housing first mortgage, and not every first mortgage carries every form of assistance. Per Virginia Housing’s loan options page:
| First mortgage | Down payment | Minimum credit score | Assistance it can carry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional (non-bond and bond) | 3% down, 97% maximum financing | 640 | DPA Grant (bond only); Plus Second Mortgage |
| FHA | 3.5% down | 620 | DPA Grant (bond only); Plus Second Mortgage |
| VA | 100% financing | 620 | CCA Grant (bond only) |
| USDA | 100% financing | 620 | CCA Grant (bond only) |
Read across that table and the logic is clear. The DPA Grant solves a down payment problem, so it attaches to the two programmes that require a down payment: Conventional at 3% and FHA at 3.5%. The CCA Grant attaches to VA and USDA, which already offer 100% financing and have no down payment left to reduce. The Plus Second Mortgage attaches to Conventional and FHA.
Credit score is the other axis. Conventional requires 640 and carries what Virginia Housing calls the lowest mortgage insurance requirements. FHA, VA and USDA go down to 620. If your score is the binding constraint rather than your cash, start with what credit score you need to buy in Richmond in 2026, and FHA versus conventional in Richmond works through that trade-off in detail.
The trade-off, stated without a sales pitch
Here is the honest comparison, which nobody’s marketing page will put this bluntly.
The grants cost you nothing back, and they cost you eligibility. A $96,000 or $110,000 ceiling in the Richmond MSA rules out a lot of two-income households, and the first-time buyer requirement rules out anyone who has owned before. If you clear both bars, a grant is almost always the better instrument, because free money beats borrowed money.
The Plus Second Mortgage costs you money, and it buys you access. The income ceiling is $24,000 to $28,000 higher in the Richmond MSA. Repeat buyers can use it. And it can cover closing costs through the 1.5% extra borrowing capacity. In exchange you carry a second amortising note for 30 years on top of your first, which means more total debt and a higher combined monthly obligation.
There is a third door worth naming here, because it is the release valve for households above every one of those ceilings: the Expanded / Non-bond track carries a $175,000 qualifying income limit in the Richmond MSA across all household sizes, has no Virginia Housing sales price limit, and is open to repeat buyers. Note the wording shift on Virginia Housing’s table: the Expanded track is measured on qualifying income rather than all household member income. Our companion post on the 2026 Virginia Housing income limits and who clears them works through all three ceilings household by household.
An illustration, not a payment quote
We will not publish a monthly payment, because that requires an interest rate and we have no verified current Virginia Housing rate to quote. What we can do honestly is run the published percentages against a stated hypothetical price.
Illustration only. Hypothetical purchase price: $400,000. Percentages are Virginia Housing’s published programme features. No interest rate, mortgage insurance, tax or insurance figure is included, and none of these are quotes.
- Conventional, no assistance: 3% down is $12,000.
- FHA, no assistance: 3.5% down is $14,000.
- Conventional or FHA bond with the DPA Grant: 1% down is $4,000. Difference against the unassisted conventional figure: $8,000 you do not bring.
- Plus Second Mortgage: 0% down, so nothing toward the down payment, with up to 1.5% more than the sales price available to borrow, which on $400,000 is up to $6,000 of additional loan proceeds toward costs.
- VA or USDA bond with the CCA Grant: 100% financing means no down payment, and the CCA Grant is aimed at the remaining closing costs.
To turn any of these into a monthly figure you need an actual rate, term, tax rate and insurance premium. Put your own numbers into our mortgage calculator and then have a lender confirm them.
What actually disqualifies Richmond buyers
In practice, four things:
- Household income above the ceiling. Especially on the grant tracks, where the test is all household member income rather than just the borrowers’.
- Not being a first-time buyer, on either grant. Note the exception: Virginia Housing states that first-time homebuyer status is not required when purchasing in an Area of Economic Opportunity. That is worth checking against a specific address before you write yourself off.
- Credit score below the floor for the first mortgage you need: 640 Conventional, 620 FHA, VA and USDA. Score is not the only underwriting question either, as our piece on what lenders look at besides your credit score lays out.
- A purchase price above $550,000 on either first-time-buyer track in the Richmond MSA. That cap collides with real county medians in ways that matter, which is the entire subject of our post on the $550,000 cap against what Richmond-area homes actually cost.
One more requirement that is not a disqualifier but does add a step: Virginia Housing states that many of its loans require completion of a free homebuying course. Build the time for it into your timeline rather than discovering it two weeks before settlement.
Where in the metro this money actually goes
Virginia Housing defines its Richmond MSA more widely than we define our market: Amelia County, Charles City County, Chesterfield County, Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie County, Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, Hopewell, King William County, New Kent County, Petersburg, Powhatan County, Prince George County, the City of Richmond and Sussex. If you are buying in any of those, the Richmond MSA limits apply to you.
Within our own market, the price cap does the steering. Chesterfield County posted the lowest median of the three big localities at $440,000 in July 2026, and the City of Richmond was at $450,000. Henrico County was at $475,000, still under the cap but the fastest-moving of the three at +11.8% year over year. All three are county-level or city-level Central Virginia Regional MLS figures, not neighborhood medians, and they say nothing about a specific street. Practically, Midlothian and Manchester are where we see assisted buyers succeed most often, and new construction across the Richmond area is worth a look because builder incentives and assistance programmes are not mutually exclusive. The full Richmond-area property search will let you set the ceiling at $550,000 and see what that buys.
If you want the whole sequence rather than the financing piece, start with buying your first home in Richmond step by step, and what down payment you actually need in Richmond is the shortest route to a realistic cash target.
Not legal or lending advice. This is general information about publicly published Virginia Housing programme features, not legal advice and not a loan commitment or a rate quote. Programme terms, income limits and sales price limits change, and eligibility is determined by a Virginia Housing-approved lender against your actual file. For legal questions about a contract, title or closing, retain a Virginia real estate attorney. For a consumer-side walkthrough of the mortgage process generally, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes free guidance.
Find out which of the three you actually qualify for
Only a Virginia Housing-approved lender can run your income, household size and credit against these limits and tell you which instrument is open to you. We keep a list of the lenders our clients have actually closed with, including the ones who write Virginia Housing loans regularly rather than occasionally. See our preferred lenders and ask them to price all three options side by side before you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the DPA Grant and the CCA Grant on the same purchase?
Virginia Housing publishes them as separate programmes attaching to different first mortgages: the DPA Grant to Conventional and FHA bond loans, the CCA Grant to VA and USDA bond loans. Because those first-mortgage sets do not overlap, the published pairings do not put both grants on one loan. Ask an approved lender to confirm against your specific file rather than relying on this article.
Does the Plus Second Mortgage have to be repaid if I sell in two years?
It is a mortgage, so it is a lien against the property and it gets paid off at settlement out of the sale proceeds like any other loan. That is the core difference from the grants, which Virginia Housing describes as true gifts with no repayment required.
My household is at $115,000 in Richmond. Am I shut out?
Out of the grants, yes: the Richmond MSA grant ceiling is $96,000 for two or fewer people and $110,000 for three or more. Not out of everything. Standard / Bond limits are $120,000 and $138,000, so a household of three at $115,000 clears that track, and the Plus Second Mortgage runs on those standard limits. Above $138,000, the Expanded / Non-bond track carries a $175,000 qualifying income limit for all household sizes.
What is the difference between “all household member income” and “qualifying income”?
Virginia Housing’s own limits table labels the grant and Standard / Bond ceilings as all household member income and the Expanded / Non-bond ceiling as qualifying income. In plain terms, one test looks at everyone living in the household and the other looks at the income used to qualify the loan. Which people and which income sources count in each case is a lender determination, so get it confirmed rather than guessed.
Is there a Virginia Housing programme with no first-time buyer requirement and no price cap?
Yes. Virginia Housing states that its Conventional non-bond programme does not require first-time homebuyer status and has no sales price limit, though it notes that in combination with other Virginia Housing programmes a first-time requirement may apply. The Conventional bond programme does have both a first-time requirement and a sales price limit, unless the purchase is in an Area of Economic Opportunity.
Do these programmes work on new construction?
The limits are written against income and sales price, not against the age of the house, so a new build inside the $550,000 Richmond MSA cap is not excluded on those grounds. What changes with new construction is the process, not the programme: timelines are longer, the deposit structure is different, and the builder’s sales representative does not represent you. Our post on whether you need a buyer’s agent for new construction in Richmond covers that.
Can I take the homebuyer course after I am under contract?
Virginia Housing says many of its loans require completion of a free homebuying course, and course completion is a condition of the loan rather than of the contract. Practically, doing it early removes a deadline from an already crowded 30 to 45 days. Do not leave it until the week of settlement.
Does an Area of Economic Opportunity raise the income and price limits too?
Virginia Housing’s limits page states that exceptions to the standard guideline, as well as higher income and sales price limits, apply in Areas of Economic Opportunity, and it publishes those separately on its Areas of Economic Opportunity page. We are not quoting a specific higher figure here because it depends on the designated area. Check the address on that page with your lender.
Who decides whether I am eligible, Virginia Housing or my agent?
Neither Virginia Housing’s website nor your real estate agent makes that call. Eligibility is determined by a Virginia Housing-approved lender underwriting your actual income, household size, credit and property. Our role is to make sure the house and the contract fit inside the programme’s constraints, which is a different job.
