We are an awarded ``Top Partner`` helping Idaho families unlock up to 8% in Down Payment Assistance. Compare First Loan Plus, Preferred, and FHA options today.
Find out which Idaho Housing program fits you — the lower-rate Bond program or the regular program — by city, household size, and income. Up to 8% toward your down payment and closing costs, with as little as $500 of your own money.
Check My Eligibility Compare The Two Programs
1st Choice Mortgage Company has been an Idaho Housing approved lender and an awarded Top Partner since 2016, serving buyers in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Eagle, Kuna, Star, Middleton, Emmett, Mountain Home, and across Idaho.
Idaho Housing and Finance Association — usually shortened to Idaho Housing, or IHFA — is an independent, self-supporting public corporation created by the Idaho Legislature to expand access to affordable housing across the state. It is headquartered in Boise.
A few things people are usually surprised to learn about it:
This is one of the quieter benefits and, for a lot of our buyers, one of the most meaningful. Idaho Housing does not sell your loan off to whatever national servicer bid highest that quarter. After closing, your loan is purchased by Idaho Housing and serviced in-house through HomeLoanServ, its servicing operation in Boise.
In practical terms: your payment goes to Boise. If something goes sideways — a job loss, a medical event, a rough stretch — you are calling Idahoans who service Idaho loans, not a call center in another time zone that acquired your file last month. Most conventional borrowers get a "your loan has been transferred" letter within the first year, sometimes more than once. Idaho Housing borrowers generally do not.
1st Choice Mortgage has been recognized by Idaho Housing & Finance Association as a Top Partner, demonstrating extensive experience helping Idaho homebuyers utilize Idaho Housing loan programs and down payment assistance.
We have held the Top Partner designation since 2016. It is awarded to lending partners based on their record of originating Idaho Housing loans, and it reflects volume and quality of work in these specific programs — not a paid membership or a directory listing. In practical terms, it means the details on this page come from closing these loans in Idaho every month, not from reading a program guide.
Most of the confusion we hear about Idaho Housing comes from treating it as one program. It is two. They are funded differently, and that difference drives every rule that follows.
This one is funded with tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds. Because the bonds are exempt from federal tax, Idaho Housing can pass a lower rate through to you — generally between 0.50% and 1% below market, though the spread moves with the bond market and can be narrower than that. In exchange, federal bond rules apply: county sales price limits, county household income limits, and a restriction on owning other property.
Standard agency financing through Idaho Housing at ordinary market pricing. The rate is higher than the Bond program, but nearly all of the restrictions fall away: no first-time buyer requirement, no sales price limit, and you may own other real estate.
Both programs are available with conventional, FHA, and USDA financing, and both can be paired with down payment and closing cost assistance. VA is coming soon.
The income rules are not the same, and this is where deals go sideways.
On the Bond program, household income means every occupant 18 and older — your adult son who works at the warehouse, your mother-in-law's Social Security, a roommate. It counts even if that person is not on the loan and even if their income does nothing to help you qualify.
On the regular program, only what appears on the application counts. That distinction matters more than it sounds. If your base pay is $158,000 but overtime and bonus push you to $180,000, and you do not need that overtime to qualify, we can leave it off the application. At $158,000 you are under the $170,000 limit and the program works.
Targeted counties are federally designated areas that carry higher income and sales price limits, and where the first-time homebuyer requirement is waived for the Bond program. What they do not do is waive the rule against owning other property.
So the buyer this genuinely helps is someone who owned a home within the last three years, sold it, and currently owns nothing. That buyer is shut out of the Bond program in Ada County but eligible in Canyon County. If you still own a rental, a Targeted county will not help — the regular program is your path, and it does not care what else you own.
Around the Treasure Valley, Canyon County (Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton, Melba, Wilder, Parma, Notus, Greenleaf), Gem County (Emmett), Owyhee County (Homedale, Marsing, Grand View), Payette County (Payette, Fruitland, New Plymouth), Boise County (Idaho City, Horseshoe Bend, Garden Valley), and Washington County (Weiser, Cambridge) are Targeted. Ada County — Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Kuna, Star, Garden City — is not.
Enter your city, household size, income, and whether you've owned recently. The calculator runs your numbers against the current county limits and tells you which program fits — the lower-rate Bond program or the regular program. Every Idaho county is included, so it works for Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Rexburg, Moscow, Lewiston, Sandpoint, and McCall just as well as the Treasure Valley.
This is the reason most of our buyers use Idaho Housing at all. The monthly payment is usually not what stops people — the check at closing is. Assistance closes that gap.
Eligible buyers can receive up to 8% of the purchase price toward the down payment, the closing costs, or both, on either program. On a $400,000 home that is up to $32,000, which in most scenarios covers the entire down payment and a good share of the closing costs.
It is a second mortgage, not a grant. Idaho Housing previously offered a forgivable version, but that funding has been exhausted and it is no longer available. If a source tells you Idaho Housing assistance is forgiven, it is working from old information.
The terms are straightforward:
We say this plainly because you should hear it before closing rather than after: the second mortgage carries its own payment, on top of your first. For most buyers it is still a good trade, because it converts a barrier you cannot clear today into a payment you can manage. But it is a loan, and you should decide with the full picture in front of you. When we run your scenario we show both payments together, so nothing is a surprise later.
$4,000 saved on a $400,000 loan
Most lenders charge a 1% origination fee. As an Idaho Housing Top Partner, we do not charge one on Idaho Housing loans — that 1% stays in your pocket at closing. On a $400,000 loan amount, that is roughly $4,000 you do not have to bring, borrow, or ask the seller to cover.
This is not a teaser or a rate buy-up. Other third-party closing costs still apply — appraisal, title, recording, prepaid taxes and insurance — but the origination fee line is zero.
Idaho Housing requires a minimum of $500 of your own funds in the transaction. Not $500 down on a house — $500 of your own money, with assistance covering the rest of what you need at closing. Here is a short walkthrough of how that works in practice:
Homebuyer education is commonly required when you use Idaho Housing assistance. Idaho Housing uses the Finally Home! course, which you can complete online at your own pace. It is not difficult, and it is worth doing properly rather than clicking through.
We confirm exactly which course and which certificate your program requires before you start, so you are not sitting through the wrong one or discovering a missing certificate the week of closing.
Assistance is not the only lever. Seller contributions toward allowable closing costs are often available, though the limits differ between FHA and conventional and depend on your loan-to-value. Lender credits can also play a role. The right combination depends on your contract, and getting it wrong means leaving money on the table or blowing a limit at underwriting.
Get Pre-Approved
Idaho Housing is best known for helping people buy, but the refinance side is real and most Idaho homeowners have never heard of it. You can refinance at Idaho Housing rates on conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans, and both rate-and-term and cash-out are available.
One limitation worth understanding: the Bond program is purchase-only. Tax-exempt bond financing cannot be used to refinance an existing mortgage, so a refinance goes through the regular program.
That works in the other direction too. If you already have an Idaho Housing Bond loan, you are not stuck with it. It can be refinanced later — rate-and-term or cash-out — into one of the other programs when rates or your situation make that the right move.
Assistance is a purchase benefit, so a refinance does not come with the 8% down payment help. What it does come with is Idaho Housing pricing and the same in-house servicing.
Not for the regular Idaho Housing program — there is no first-time buyer requirement at all. The requirement applies only to the First Loan Tax-Exempt (Bond) program, and even there it is waived if you buy in a Targeted county.
Yes, on the regular Idaho Housing program. You can own a rental or a second home and still use the program, as long as the home you are buying will be your primary residence and you qualify on the loan. You cannot own other property and use the Bond program — that restriction applies even in a Targeted county.
It depends on the program. For the First Loan Tax-Exempt Bond program, household income includes every occupant 18 and older, regardless of their relationship to you, whether or not they are on the loan, and whether or not that income can be used to qualify. For the regular program, only the income shown on the loan application counts.
On the regular Idaho Housing program, only application income counts. If you do not need the overtime or bonus to qualify for the loan, that income can be left off the application. If what remains is under $170,000, the program still works. This does not apply to the Bond program, where all household income counts.
Up to 8% of the purchase price toward your down payment and closing costs, for eligible buyers, on either program.
No. The forgivable loan option is no longer funded. Current assistance is a repayable second mortgage: 15-year fixed, 2% above your first mortgage rate, with no prepayment penalty.
Idaho Housing requires a minimum of $500 of the buyer's own funds. Assistance can cover the down payment and closing costs beyond that. Your actual number depends on price, loan type, and seller contributions.
No. The Mortgage Credit Certificate is no longer offered. Sources that still list it are out of date.
Conventional, FHA, and USDA financing are available on both the Bond and regular programs, and VA is coming soon.
Generally 0.50% to 1% below market, though the spread depends on the bond market and can be narrower. We quote both programs side by side so you can see the actual dollar difference on your loan amount rather than a range.
Yes. Idaho Housing offers refinancing at its low rates, both rate-and-term and cash-out, on conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans. The one exception is the Bond program — First Loan Tax-Exempt financing is for purchases only, so you cannot use a bond loan to refinance. If you already have a Bond loan, that does not lock you in: it can be refinanced later, rate-and-term or cash-out, into one of the other programs.
No. This is one of the real advantages of the program. After closing, your loan is purchased by Idaho Housing and serviced in-house through HomeLoanServ in Boise, rather than being sold off to a national servicer. Your payments go to Boise, and if you ever need help with your loan you are dealing with an Idaho organization that keeps its loans. Most conventional borrowers get at least one servicing transfer notice in the first year or two; Idaho Housing borrowers generally do not.
Idaho Housing and Finance Association is an independent, self-supporting public corporation created by the Idaho Legislature to expand access to affordable housing in Idaho. It is headquartered in Boise, it is not funded by state tax dollars, and it does not lend directly to buyers — it works through approved lending partners like 1st Choice Mortgage Company.
No. The income limits are ceilings, not targets, and on the regular program the ceiling is $170,000. These are standard conventional, FHA, and USDA mortgages used by buyers with solid jobs who simply do not have a large down payment saved.
Jerry Robinson (NMLS #4475) is the President and CEO of 1st Choice Mortgage Company, LLC (Company NMLS #380736), a licensed Idaho and Oregon mortgage lender serving the Treasure Valley community since 1992. With over 30 years of localized lending experience specializing in Idaho VA loans, FHA programs, and specialized Idaho Housing down payment assistance, Jerry has guided thousands of local families through changing market cycles to achieve homeownership from his headquarters in Meridian, Idaho . Call us at (208) 375-5626 or visit 375loan.com.
1st Choice Mortgage Company, LLC is an Equal Housing Opportunity Lender.
Figures reflect Idaho Housing income and sales price guidelines revised 5-20-2026, effective 5-1-2026. The 80% AMI limits carry Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effective dates of 5-18-2025; the $170,000 limit for other loan products carries an effective date of 9-3-2024. Program terms and funding availability change. This checker is an estimate for planning purposes and is not a loan approval, commitment, or offer of credit.
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