First-Time Home Buyer Programs and Grants in Oregon

I'm Holli Cobb, REALTOR® with REAL Broker in Redmond, and most first-time buyers in Central Oregon have heard of FHA and VA loans but have no idea the state itself runs a program too. Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) offers a bond-funded mortgage for first-time buyers, financed through state housing bonds rather than a bank's own money, which is how it's able to carry a better rate than a standard conventional loan. It's offered through a network of OHCS-approved lenders, not every lender in town, and it comes with income limits and purchase price limits that are set by county and change over time.

The bond loan is only half of what the state offers. OHCS also pairs it with down payment assistance, structured as a second loan behind your main mortgage rather than a check nobody pays back. Depending on the specific program, that second loan is deferred, meaning you don't make payments on it until you sell, refinance, or pay off the first loan, or partially forgivable over time. Either way, it's meant to cover your down payment and closing costs, not your whole purchase, and it comes with its own eligibility rules on top of the bond loan's.

Oregon has a separate tool worth knowing about even if you're a year or two out from buying: the Oregon First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account. It lets you, or a family member helping you, set money aside specifically earmarked for a future down payment and closing costs, and get an Oregon state income tax deduction on what you contribute. It has to actually be used for a qualifying home purchase to keep the tax benefit, so it's not a general-purpose savings account with a nicer name, it's a commitment to buying.

Beyond the state-level programs, local housing agencies and nonprofit homebuyer-education providers serve Central Oregon with their own first-time buyer classes and, in some cases, their own down payment help layered on top of what OHCS offers. Several of the state and local programs actually require you to complete a homebuyer education course before you qualify, so that class isn't a hoop, it's often a prerequisite to the help itself.

Income limits, purchase price caps, and which programs have funding available all shift, sometimes within the same year, which is exactly why I don't want to hand you a number in a blog post and have it be wrong by the time you're ready. An OHCS-approved lender can tell you today what you actually qualify for and how the bond loan, the down payment assistance, and the savings account fit your specific numbers.

If you want help figuring out which of these actually applies to you before you start touring homes, that's part of how I help you buy a home. Reach out and I'll point you to a lender who works with these programs regularly.