Virginia Housing runs the state’s first-time buyer loan and grant programs, and almost every question we get about them is really one question: do I make too much? The answer depends on which of three income tracks you are applying under, and the three tracks are far apart – $96,000 at the bottom, $175,000 at the top, for the same Richmond area.
Here are the current published limits for the Richmond metropolitan statistical area, effective 8/1/2026, along with the credit and down payment minimums, the $550,000 sales price cap, and where that cap runs into what Richmond-area homes actually sold for this summer.
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The three income tracks for the Richmond MSA
All figures below are Virginia Housing’s own published limits for the Richmond MSA, effective 8/1/2026, from its income, sales price and loan limits page.
| Program track | Income limit, 2 or fewer people | Income limit, 3 or more | Sales price / loan limit | First-time buyer required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPA / CCA grant programs | $96,000 | $110,000 | $550,000 | Yes |
| Standard / Bond programs | $120,000 | $138,000 | $550,000 | Yes |
| Expanded / Non-bond programs | $175,000 qualifying income, all household sizes | No sales price limit; follow GSE, insurer and guarantor requirements | No – first-time and repeat | |
Three things in that table do most of the work.
The grant tracks are the tightest. If you want the Down Payment Assistance or Closing Cost Assistance grant, $96,000 for a household of one or two is the number. That is the constraint people trip over, because it is $24,000 below the Standard/Bond limit for the same household size.
The middle track is not a grant track. Standard/Bond at $120,000 and $138,000 gets you a Virginia Housing first mortgage, not the grants.
The top track includes repeat buyers. Expanded/Non-bond is $175,000 qualifying income for all household sizes, with no sales price limit, and it is open to first-time and repeat buyers. Nobody should be told “you make too much” without being told this track exists.
Note the definitions differ, and this matters if you have an adult child or a parent living with you. The two first-time tracks are measured on all household member income; the Expanded track is measured on qualifying income. Those are not the same test, and a lender has to run both.
Virginia Housing’s “Richmond” is bigger than our Richmond
The MSA that governs your limit is Virginia Housing’s own definition, and it is wider than the market we work in. For the Richmond MSA it lists: 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, City of Richmond, and Sussex. Of those, the ones we actually work in are Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Powhatan and the City of Richmond; the rest sit outside our market and we do not cover them.
The practical consequence: a buyer in Powhatan and a buyer in Petersburg are on the same limit table, even though those are very different housing markets. The $550,000 cap and the $96,000 grant limit do not flex by locality inside the MSA. Do not assume a cheaper corner of the MSA gets an easier income test – it does not.
The loan types, with their real published minimums
| Program | Down payment | Minimum credit score | Grant eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional (bond and non-bond) | 3% down, 97% maximum financing | 640 | DPA grant eligible, bond only; lowest mortgage insurance requirements |
| FHA (bond and non-bond) | 3.5% down | 620 | DPA grant eligible, bond only |
| VA (bond and non-bond) | 100% financing | 620 | CCA grant eligible, bond only |
| USDA (bond and non-bond) | 100% financing | 620 | CCA grant eligible, bond only |
And the three assistance products that sit on top of those first mortgages:
- Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Grant. Gets you to a 1% down payment. The grant is a true gift with no repayment, and it can be paired with other non-Virginia Housing down payment assistance. First-time buyer required.
- Closing Cost Assistance (CCA) Grant. Could eliminate the funds you need at closing. Also a true gift, no repayment. First-time buyer required.
- Plus Second Mortgage. Gets you to a 0% down payment. The second mortgage is a 30-year fixed rate, and qualified buyers can borrow 1.5% more than the sales price. Eligible for first-time and repeat buyers, under Virginia Housing standard income limits.
Two structural points people miss. First, Conventional non-bond has no first-time buyer requirement and no sales price limit, while Conventional bond has both – unless the purchase is in an Area of Economic Opportunity, where Virginia Housing relaxes requirements, including raising maximum allowable income and sales price limits and waiving first-time homebuyer restrictions. Second, many Virginia Housing loans require completing a free homebuyer course. It is free and it is a condition, so do it early rather than discovering it two weeks before closing. Our step-by-step on buying your first home in Richmond puts it in sequence with everything else.
Get the Richmond closing-timeline checklist
A one-page sequence of what has to happen and when, from pre-approval and the homebuyer course through appraisal, association documents and settlement, with the deadlines that actually blow up Richmond deals. Ask for it on our contact page and we will send it over – no obligation to work with us.
The $550,000 cap against what Richmond-area homes actually cost
This is the cross-reference that decides whether the first-time tracks are usable where you want to live. The cap on the DPA/CCA and Standard/Bond tracks is $550,000. Here is July 2026, single-family, from Central Virginia Regional MLS via the Richmond Association of REALTORS sortable statistics, report current as of August 10, 2026. All of these are county-level or metro-level medians, not neighborhood figures.
| Area | Median sales price, July 2026 | Year over year | Relative to the $550,000 cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield County | $440,000 | -3.3% | $110,000 under |
| City of Richmond | $450,000 | -3.4% | $100,000 under |
| Richmond Metro | $460,000 | +2.2% | $90,000 under |
| Henrico County | $475,000 | +11.8% | $75,000 under |
| Hanover County | $525,000 | +1.0% | $25,000 under – close |
| Ashland (unincorporated town) | $620,000 | -3.9% | Above the cap |
| Goochland County | $655,000 | -3.0% | Well above the cap |
What that table means in practice: in Chesterfield, the City of Richmond and Henrico, the median home sold comfortably below the cap, so the first-time tracks are workable for a typical purchase. In Hanover the median is $25,000 under the cap, which means roughly half of July’s Hanover sales were over it. In Goochland the county median was $655,000, $105,000 above the cap, and Ashland’s town median was $620,000 – although at 17 closings that Ashland figure is a thin base and should be treated as directional.
So if you are set on Goochland or acreage further out, the first-time grant tracks may simply not reach the houses you want, and the Expanded/Non-bond track with no sales price limit becomes the relevant option – if your qualifying income is at or under $175,000. That is worth knowing before you fall in love with a listing. Browse Richmond-area homes with acreage and the full listings search with the cap in mind rather than after.
If the cap is not your problem but the price floor is, our roundup of Richmond homes under $325,000 shows where the entry-level inventory actually sits.
How to work out which track you are on
- Count the household, then count the income twice. Once as all household member income for the first-time tracks, once as qualifying income for Expanded. A lender does this; you should know both numbers before you talk to one.
- Check your credit score against the floor, not the average. 640 for Conventional, 620 for FHA, VA and USDA. Our post on what credit score you need to buy in Richmond covers what to do if you are close.
- Decide whether you need a grant or a lower rate structure. The grants require first-time status and the tighter income limit. If you clear $96,000 but not $120,000, the choice may already be made for you.
- Price the down payment against the cap. What you actually need to put down is a separate calculation from what the program allows: see what down payment you actually need in Richmond, and run the payment yourself on our mortgage calculator.
- Ask about the homebuyer course on the first call. Many of these loans require it and it is free.
- Get the whole file looked at, not just the score. Debt-to-income, reserves and job history all move the decision: see what lenders look at besides your credit score.
Choosing between loan types rather than tracks? FHA versus conventional in Richmond works through the trade-offs at the 620 and 640 score lines. For neutral, non-commercial background on the mortgage process itself, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s homebuying resources are the reference we point people to.
What we are not going to tell you
We are not quoting an interest rate. Rates move, Virginia Housing publishes its own, and a rate in a blog post is a liability rather than information. We are also not naming which lenders participate; ask Virginia Housing or check its own find-a-lender resources, and see our preferred lenders page for people we have actually closed with. And we are not writing about a Mortgage Credit Certificate: it does not appear on Virginia Housing’s current loan options page, and we are not going to describe a program we cannot verify is still offered.
This is not legal or tax advice. Program terms, income limits and eligibility rules change, and only Virginia Housing and a participating lender can confirm what applies to your file. For questions about contracts, title or the legal consequences of a purchase, speak with a Virginia real estate attorney.
Find out which track you actually qualify for
The fastest honest answer comes from a lender running both income tests on your real numbers. Start with our preferred lenders – people we have closed Virginia Housing files with – and bring the result back to us before you start touring.
Virginia Housing questions we get from Richmond buyers
I earn $130,000 as a household of two. Am I out?
Not out – out of the grant and Standard/Bond tracks. For a household of two in the Richmond MSA, the DPA/CCA limit is $96,000 and Standard/Bond is $120,000, so $130,000 clears both. The Expanded/Non-bond track is $175,000 qualifying income for all household sizes, with no sales price limit, and it is open to first-time and repeat buyers.
Does a household of four get a higher limit?
On the first-time tracks, yes. DPA/CCA goes from $96,000 to $110,000 at three or more people, and Standard/Bond goes from $120,000 to $138,000. The Expanded/Non-bond limit of $175,000 does not change with household size.
Do the grants have to be paid back?
No. Virginia Housing publishes both the Down Payment Assistance and Closing Cost Assistance grants as true gifts with no repayment required. The DPA grant gets you to a 1% down payment and can be paired with other non-Virginia Housing down payment assistance. Both require first-time buyer status.
What is the difference between the Plus Second Mortgage and a grant?
The Plus Second Mortgage is debt, not a gift: it is a 30-year fixed rate second mortgage that takes you to 0% down, and qualified buyers can borrow 1.5% more than the sales price. Unlike the grants, it is available to repeat buyers as well as first-time buyers, under Virginia Housing standard income limits.
I already own a home. Is any of this available to me?
Yes, two things. The Expanded/Non-bond track at $175,000 qualifying income is open to repeat buyers, and Conventional non-bond has no first-time buyer requirement and no sales price limit. The Plus Second Mortgage is also available to repeat buyers. The DPA and CCA grants are not.
What is an Area of Economic Opportunity?
A federally targeted area where Virginia Housing relaxes certain loan program requirements, including raising the maximum allowable income and sales price limits and waiving the first-time homebuyer restriction. Virginia Housing publishes a searchable map on its Areas of Economic Opportunity page. It is worth checking a specific address against it before you assume you are ineligible.
Is the $550,000 cap a purchase price or a loan amount?
Virginia Housing publishes it as a sales price and loan limit for the Richmond MSA on the two first-time tracks. On the Expanded/Non-bond track there is no sales price limit and you follow GSE, insurer and guarantor loan limits instead.
Is the homebuyer course a real requirement or a suggestion?
Virginia Housing states that many of its loans require completion of a free homebuying course. Treat it as a requirement until your lender confirms otherwise for your specific program, and complete it early – it is free, and it is a poor reason to delay a closing.
Can I use a Virginia Housing loan in Goochland?
Goochland is inside Virginia Housing’s Richmond MSA definition, so yes, subject to the same limits. The obstacle is price: Goochland’s July 2026 county-level median was $655,000, which is $105,000 above the $550,000 cap on the first-time tracks. Expanded/Non-bond, with no sales price limit, is the track that reaches most of that inventory.
