Florida Housing reopened the Hometown Heroes Housing Program on Monday, July 13, 2026 with a $50 million allocation, and reservations have run first come, first served ever since. For scale, the 2023 round moved $100 million in under three weeks — which means "the program is open today" and "the program will still be open when you are ready to write an offer" are two very different statements.
If you work full time for a Florida hospital, school district, fire department, law enforcement agency, court, licensed childcare center, or the military, this is the largest single cash lever available on a Florida purchase right now. What follows is the mechanics — who qualifies under the current rules, what the assistance actually is, the county income limits as Florida Housing has them posted, and what the deferred second mortgage costs you on the back end.
Hometown Heroes provides 5% of your first mortgage — $10,000 minimum, $35,000 maximum — as a 0% second with no monthly payments. It is deferred, not forgiven, and repaid when you sell, refinance, or move out.
Who Qualifies For Hometown Heroes In 2026
Eligibility narrowed in July 2025. For roughly two years the program reached nearly any full-time Florida worker, and the current rules pull it back to frontline, public-service, military, and community-support employment.
Florida Housing tests the employer, not the job title, which matters more than most buyers expect. A cafeteria worker at an eligible hospital and a trauma surgeon at that same hospital are both inside the program, while a nurse working remotely for an out-of-state telehealth company generally is not.
The requirements you have to clear include but are not limited to:
- An eligible Florida employer. Qualifying categories cover healthcare facilities, K-12 schools, fire departments and ambulance services, law enforcement and correctional agencies, courts, licensed childcare facilities, and the military. Florida Housing publishes the employer list and revised it alongside the July 13, 2026 relaunch.
- Full-time work at a Florida location. Part-time and contract roles do not count, and the employer needs a physical location in the state. Hybrid schedules are typically accepted where the borrower reports to the Florida location several days a week.
- First-time homebuyer status. You cannot have held ownership interest in a primary residence during the previous three years. Veterans with an other-than-dishonorable discharge and buyers in federally designated targeted areas are exempt from that test.
- A 640 minimum credit score. This is a program floor, not an underwriting guarantee. Your loan still has to pass FHA, VA, USDA, or agency guidelines on debt-to-income, reserves, and documentation.
- Approved homebuyer education. An approved course is required before closing, and online options generally run in the $75 to $100 range. Build this into your timeline rather than discovering it during underwriting.
- Income under your county cap. Which cap applies depends on which version of the program your lender runs you through — the distinction is covered in detail below.
Only one borrower on the application needs to satisfy the occupation and employment test, which is the quiet detail that saves a lot of two-income households. A firefighter and a software engineer buying together can qualify on the firefighter's employment alone, with both incomes counted against the applicable limit.
Eligibility runs by employer category — healthcare, K-12 schools, fire and EMS, law enforcement, courts, licensed childcare, and the military. Work must be full time for a Florida-based employer with a physical in-state location.
How Much Assistance You Actually Get
The assistance is calculated as 5% of your first mortgage loan amount, subject to a $10,000 floor and a $35,000 ceiling. Because it is a percentage of the loan rather than a flat grant, the size of your benefit scales with your purchase price until you hit the cap.
In practice, the 5% figure means a $200,000 first mortgage produces the $10,000 minimum, a $386,000 first mortgage produces $19,300, and any first mortgage above $700,000 is capped at $35,000. Keep in mind that lenders compute the percentage from the loan amount on the note, so confirm with your loan officer whether financed FHA upfront mortgage insurance is inside or outside that base.
The money can go toward down payment, closing costs, or both, and Florida Housing does not require you to exhaust your own funds first. What it does require is that the whole amount be used at closing — this is not a cash-out at the table.
How The 0% Deferred Second Mortgage Works
The assistance is recorded as a second mortgage against the property. It carries a 0% interest rate and is non-amortizing, so there is no monthly payment and no balance growth over time.
What trips people up is the word "deferred." Deferred is not forgiven — the full principal sits on title until a triggering event, and then it is due in one payment.
Repayment is triggered when you sell the home, refinance the first mortgage, transfer the deed, pay the first mortgage off, or stop occupying the property as your primary residence. That refinance trigger is the one worth planning around, because it means a future rate-and-term refinance requires you to bring the assistance balance to the table or roll it into the new loan. If you expect to tap equity later, read the tradeoffs in our breakdown of a HELOC versus a cash-out refinance before you assume a refinance is free.
The second mortgage is deferred, never forgiven. The balance comes due in full when you sell, refinance, transfer the deed, pay off the first mortgage, or stop using the home as your primary residence.
2026 County Income Limits: Borrower Income Versus Household Income
There is not one income limit per county — there are two, because Hometown Heroes runs through two channels that count income in fundamentally different ways. This is the most commonly misread part of the program, and it decides eligibility for a large share of applicants.
The TBA channel counts only the credit-qualifying income of the people on the loan, and publishes a single limit per county regardless of household size. The bond channel counts the income of everyone living in the home who is 18 or older — including a non-borrowing spouse or an adult child with a job — and sets lower limits that step up with household size.
Here are the 2026 figures for the five counties most readers ask about, effective with reservations dated 5/6/2026:
| County | TBA (borrower income only) | Bond, household of 1–2 | Bond, household of 3+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | $204,300 | $136,200 | $156,630 |
| Palm Beach | $192,750 | $128,500 | $147,775 |
| Broward | $190,200 | $126,800 | $145,820 |
| Orange | $172,350 | $114,900 | $132,135 |
| Hillsborough | $172,050 | $114,700 | $131,905 |
The TBA structure sits at roughly 150% of area median income, the bond one-to-two-person limit at roughly 100%, and the three-plus limit 15% above that. Most Florida counties floor at $148,050 on the TBA side, and Monroe County carries the highest limit in the state; confirm any county not listed here against Florida Housing's current limits sheet.
All of these numbers move. Florida Housing revises the limits periodically and publishes them as a dated income and loan limits document, so treat the table above as a planning reference and have your lender pull the live figure before you reserve funds.
Miami-Dade allows $204,300 counting borrower income only under the TBA channel. The bond channel counts all household members 18 and older and caps at $136,200 for one to two people, effective 5/6/2026.
Funding Rounds, Reservation Timing, And Why The Money Runs Out
Hometown Heroes is appropriated in rounds, not funded perpetually. Each round opens on an announced date, reservations are taken first come, first served through participating lenders, and the program closes when the allocation is committed.
The 2026 round opened July 13 with $50 million, and Florida Housing projected roughly seven to eight months of runway at expected volume. Reported balances in early September 2026 put the remaining allocation in the mid-$30 million range, which implies a pace closer to the projection than to the 2023 stampede.
History still argues for urgency. The 2023 round exhausted $100 million in under three weeks and the 2024 round lasted about five weeks, so a projected eight months can compress into weeks if rates fall or a spring buying season arrives early.
Funds are reserved by your lender at the time your loan is locked, not when you apply or when you go under contract. Being fully pre-approved with an approved Hometown Heroes lender before you shop is the only thing that converts availability into an actual reservation.
How It Stacks With FHA, VA, USDA, And Conventional First Mortgages
Hometown Heroes is a second mortgage, so it always sits behind a first. That first mortgage has to be a Florida Housing product, offered in FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional flavors.
The practical consequence is that your note rate comes off Florida Housing's posted rate sheet rather than the open market. That rate is sometimes competitive and sometimes above what you would get on a standard loan, so the honest comparison is the assistance amount today against the rate difference over your expected holding period.
The mortgage insurance math differs meaningfully by product, and it deserves a look before you pick:
- FHA. Requires 3.5% down and carries upfront mortgage insurance plus an annual premium that stays for the life of the loan at that down payment. It is the most forgiving on credit and debt-to-income, which is why most Hometown Heroes files land here.
- VA. Requires no down payment and charges no monthly mortgage insurance, so the assistance goes almost entirely to closing costs and prepaid escrows. Eligible veterans also skip the three-year first-time buyer test entirely.
- USDA. Also a zero-down product, restricted to eligible rural census tracts — which in Florida still covers meaningful territory outside the major metros. Guarantee fees apply in place of conventional mortgage insurance.
- Conventional. Runs through the housing-finance-agency channel, which typically carries reduced mortgage insurance coverage that cancels once you reach 20% equity. Confirm the specific coverage level with your lender, because it is the main reason a stronger-credit borrower may beat FHA over a ten-year hold.
One restriction is absolute: Hometown Heroes is the only second mortgage permitted alongside its first mortgage, and it cannot be layered with another Florida Housing assistance product. If you have compared layered structures in other states — Illinois buyers, for instance, often stack differently under IHDA down payment assistance — Florida's single-second rule is stricter.
Hometown Heroes requires a Florida Housing first mortgage in FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional form. It is the only second mortgage allowed on that loan and cannot be stacked with other Florida Housing assistance.
Worked Example: A Miami-Dade Nurse Buying A $400,000 Condo
Consider a registered nurse employed full time by a Miami-Dade hospital system, earning $95,000, buying a $400,000 condo as her first home. Her income clears the TBA limit of $204,300 with enormous room, and would also clear the bond household limit of $136,200 if she is the only adult in the household.
She uses an FHA first mortgage. At 3.5% down, her down payment is $14,000 and her base loan amount is $386,000.
Cash To Close Without The Program
On top of the down payment she owes closing costs and prepaid escrows. Florida adds two statutory line items most buyers underestimate: documentary stamp tax on the note at $0.35 per $100 and intangible tax at 0.2% of the mortgage, which together run roughly $2,160 on a loan this size — the full breakdown lives in our guide to Florida doc stamps and intangible tax.
Add lender fees, title, appraisal, the condo questionnaire, and prepaid taxes and insurance, and estimated total closing costs and prepaids land somewhere around $11,000 to $14,000. Using $12,500 as a midpoint estimate, her cash to close is roughly $26,500.
Cash To Close With Hometown Heroes
Her assistance is 5% of the $386,000 first mortgage, or $19,300 — above the $10,000 floor and well below the $35,000 cap. That covers the entire $14,000 down payment and applies the remaining $5,300 to closing costs.
| Line item | Without the program | With Hometown Heroes |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| FHA base loan (96.5%) | $386,000 | $386,000 |
| Down payment (3.5%) | $14,000 | $14,000 |
| Closing costs and prepaids (estimated) | ~$12,500 | ~$12,500 |
| Hometown Heroes second (5%) | — | $19,300 |
| Estimated cash to close | ~$26,500 | ~$7,200 |
Her out-of-pocket requirement drops by the full $19,300, from roughly $26,500 to roughly $7,200. The closing cost figures above are estimates and will vary by lender, title company, and insurance quote — the down payment and assistance calculations are the fixed part of the math.
What The Second Mortgage Costs Her Later
If she sells in year seven, the $19,300 comes out of her proceeds at closing — no interest, no penalty, no forgiveness. Against seven years of appreciation and principal paydown on a $400,000 property, that is usually a small share of her equity, but it is a real reduction and belongs in the projection.
The condo detail also deserves attention before she writes an offer. FHA financing requires the project to be approved or to qualify for single-unit approval, and Florida associations have faced tightened lender scrutiny on reserves and structural inspections — our breakdown of Florida condo financing rules covers which buildings are effectively unfinanceable right now.
What To Verify Before You Reserve Funds
Every number in this article carries a date, and Hometown Heroes changes by administrative action rather than by legislation. Before you rely on any of it, confirm the following with a participating lender.
- The live income limit for your county. Pull the current Florida Housing income and loan limits document and check its effective date against your reservation date.
- Which channel your file runs through. TBA or bond determines whether a non-borrowing spouse's income counts, and that single question flips eligibility for many households.
- Remaining allocation. Reservation balances move daily and are not something to infer from an article published weeks earlier.
- Your employer's status on the current list. The eligible-employer document was revised for the July 13, 2026 relaunch, so a prior year's approval does not settle it.
- The posted first mortgage rate versus market quotes. Price the rate difference across your expected holding period against the assistance amount before committing.
Once you are through closing, the Florida-specific planning does not stop. Filing for homestead exemption in your first year and understanding Florida homestead portability protects your assessment cap on this purchase and the next one, and our broader Florida mortgage guide covers insurance, taxes, and the rest of the carrying-cost picture. If you are still deciding where in the state to buy, the affordability map is a reasonable place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the assistance have to be repaid if I refinance to a lower rate?
Yes. A refinance of the first mortgage is a repayment trigger, so the balance either comes out of pocket or gets rolled into the new loan. Some lenders will subordinate in narrow circumstances, but you should not plan around that.
Can I use Hometown Heroes on a duplex or a house hack?
The property must be your primary residence, and Florida Housing's first mortgage products govern the unit count. Multi-unit purchases carry additional agency requirements, so confirm both the program rule and the loan product rule before you write an offer.
What happens if the funds run out while I am under contract?
Reservations are made at lock, so an unlocked file has no claim on the allocation. If the round closes before your lender reserves, you close without the assistance or renegotiate — which is why pre-approval before shopping matters.
Does my spouse's income count if they are not on the loan?
It depends entirely on the channel. Under the TBA structure only borrower income counts, while the bond structure counts every household member aged 18 or older, including a non-borrowing spouse.
Is there a purchase price limit as well as an income limit?
Yes. Florida Housing publishes county purchase price and loan limits in the same document as the income limits, and both have to be satisfied. High-cost counties carry higher ceilings than the statewide floor.
This article is for informational purposes and is not financial or mortgage advice. Consult a licensed professional in your jurisdiction.