Phoenix Down Payment Assistance: Which Program to Use First

The email usually reads something like this: "My pre-approval says HOME Plus, but my friend used something called Home in Five, and the city has a program too. Which one am I supposed to use?"

The answer depends on three things about you. Where the house sits on a map, what your household earns, and which kind of first mortgage you're using. Most Phoenix buyers assume HOME Plus is the only option. In Maricopa County it's one of three overlapping layers, and the one that offers the most money isn't always the one that closes cleanly on your timeline.

The short answer: three layers of help for Phoenix-area buyers

You have a statewide program (AzIDA HOME Plus), a county-level program run by two local IDAs (Home in Five Advantage), and a city-funded program with its own boundary and income rules (City of Phoenix Open Doors).

The first two are competitors. Each one comes attached to its own first mortgage, so you choose one. The third is an add-on, if you fit its much tighter box.

Layer 1: AzIDA HOME Plus

HOME Plus is available in every Arizona county and works with FHA, VA, USDA and conventional first mortgages. It isn't limited to first-time buyers, which is why it's the program most lenders mention first. Repeat buyers often assume they're shut out of everything. They aren't, and I walk through that in Arizona DPA for non-first-time home buyers.

The Maricopa County income cap for HOME Plus changes when the program updates its chart. Pull the current figure from HOME Plus income limits for 2026 before you compare it to anything below.

Layer 2: Home in Five Advantage (Phoenix and Maricopa County IDAs)

Home in Five is run jointly by the Industrial Development Authority of the City of Phoenix and the Maricopa County IDA. It covers homes anywhere in Maricopa County, including Phoenix itself. That reaches Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale and the rest of the Valley.

As of October 2026, the assistance comes as a second loan sized as a percentage of your final first mortgage amount, with no dollar cap. On a Home in Five file, the first thing I ask is FHA or conventional, because that decides which second you get and whether it ever goes away.

The short forgivable option pairs with government first loans (FHA, VA, and HUD 184). It comes in tiered percentages of the first mortgage amount, and which tiers are available depends on the program document and rate sheet you're looking at. It forgives a little each month over a short multi-year window as long as you stay in the home. Conventional buyers using Fannie Mae HFA Preferred or Freddie Mac HFA Advantage get a deferred second instead. It's also sized in tiers off the first mortgage, but it isn't forgiven month by month. It stays due on sale, transfer or refinance, and if none of those happen, it's forgiven in full at final maturity decades out. A third option is an amortizing second with a real monthly payment, and that payment counts against your DTI.

You may run across older flyers or blog posts describing extra add-ons for teachers, first responders, veterans or lower-income tracts. Don't plan around those. Ask your lender what's in the current program guidelines on the day you lock.

What's closed: the Arizona Is Home-funded forgivable option inside Home in Five ran out of money in late June 2026, and no new funds are expected. Home in Five Platinum is also fully used, with its waitlist closed. If a buyer friend got one of those, you can't get the same deal right now.

One rule catches people. Home in Five seconds can't be subordinated. If you refinance during the term, the unforgiven balance gets paid off. Read how Arizona DPA forgiveness works before you assume you'll refi later.

There's a minimum credit score, and it can be higher for some property types, like manufactured homes, than for a standard single-family house or condo. Ask your lender for the current figure from the first-mortgage guidelines before you go shopping.

Layer 3: City of Phoenix Open Doors

Open Doors is the city's own program, funded with federal HUD HOME dollars. Per the city's fact sheet dated August 25, 2026, it offers a percentage of the purchase price, based on need, as a deferred, forgivable second loan with no monthly payments. The city's Action Plan describes the balance being forgiven gradually over the period of affordability until it's fully released at the end, and the length of that period is set by how much assistance you receive. Sell, move out or refinance inside that window and you'd repay the portion that hasn't been forgiven yet, per your loan documents.

The box is tight. You have to be a first-time homebuyer as FHA defines it. Total household income has to be at or below 80% of area median income. The home has to be inside Phoenix city limits, priced at or below $470,250, and no higher than appraised value. You'll need to put in some of your own money, at least the program minimum or your first lender's requirement if that's higher. You buy a home warranty covering at least two years, and you take no cash back at closing.

You don't apply through me or any retail lender. The city contracts with two HUD-approved counseling agencies, Trellis (602-258-1659) and Chicanos Por La Causa (602-457-4609). They determine eligibility and handle the second-loan documents. The property also has to pass a HUD-standard inspection and an environmental review, so ask the agency early whether the house you're eyeing raises any flags. Your first mortgage has to be a fixed-rate, fully amortizing loan, and the city's underwriting guidelines call for homes that are modest in design, which rules out things like pools. In Phoenix that knocks out a lot of listings, so confirm with Trellis or CPLC before you write an offer on a house with a pool.

Be realistic about volume. The city's 2026-2027 Agency Plan reports 14 buyers served since 2022, and the plan projected about eight more through June 30, 2026. That's an earlier planning estimate, not a closing count, but either way the numbers are small. The fact sheet itself says reservations are limited.

Does my address qualify for Phoenix down payment assistance?

Look at the city limits, not the mailing address. Plenty of homes with a "Phoenix" address sit in unincorporated county or in a neighboring city.

That gives you three cases. If the home is inside Phoenix city limits, all three layers are on the table. If it's in another Maricopa County city like Mesa, Glendale or Chandler, you're choosing between Home in Five and HOME Plus. If it's outside Maricopa County entirely, Home in Five drops off.

Some Valley cities have run their own assistance over the years. If you're buying in Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Tempe or Scottsdale, call that city's housing or neighborhood services department and ask whether it's funding buyer assistance right now. Website pages for these programs often lag behind their funding.

What are the income limits for Maricopa County DPA in 2026?

As of October 2026, this is where the programs differ most, and not only in dollar amounts.

Home in Five's lender guidelines effective June 10, 2026 show a program income limit of $157,360, while the consumer site still shows $153,440. Confirm with your lender which one applies at lock. Home in Five only counts credit-qualifying income, meaning the income on your loan application that underwriting actually uses.

Open Doors counts total household income for everyone living in the home, under federal 24 CFR Part 5 rules. That includes income your underwriter would never look at, like a working adult child who isn't on the loan. Effective June 1, 2026, the 80% AMI caps are $62,950 for one person, $71,950 for two, $80,950 for three, $89,900 for four, $97,100 for five, $104,300 for six, $111,500 for seven and $118,700 for eight.

So a household can sit comfortably under Home in Five and still be over Open Doors. That's common. The what income counts breakdown explains the difference in more detail.

Can you stack Home in Five, HOME Plus and Open Doors?

On a file inside city limits, I can sometimes pair Open Doors with a Home in Five or HOME Plus first. What I can't do is put Home in Five and HOME Plus on the same house.

Home in Five assistance only comes paired with a Home in Five first mortgage, and HOME Plus works the same way with its own first loan. You can't put two first mortgages on one house, so you're picking one of those two.

Open Doors is different. Both the city's fact sheet and its homeownership page say it can be layered with other homeownership assistance programs. In practice, a qualifying buyer in city limits could pair Open Doors with either Home in Five or HOME Plus. Whether that combination fits your specific file depends on combined loan-to-value, the first lender's overlays and the counseling agency's need calculation. Open Doors is sized "as needed," so the more help your first program provides, the less the city may give you.

Which program should a Phoenix buyer apply for first?

If you asked me, here's the order I'd work through.

1. Check the address against Phoenix city limits and the $470,250 cap, then your household income against the 80% AMI chart and your first-time status. If you clear all of it, call Trellis or CPLC this week. Their counseling and the 8-hour education class take time, and their funding is the scarcest of the three.
2. Decide on your first mortgage type. FHA and VA buyers will usually compare HOME Plus against Home in Five's short forgivable option. Conventional buyers are comparing against a Home in Five second that doesn't forgive for decades.
3. Be honest about how long you'll stay. If a job move or a growing family might push you out in a few years, a deferred second that's fully due at sale is a different deal than one that forgives monthly.
4. Run the actual numbers for both first-mortgage programs side by side. Don't compare the assistance percentages alone.

Say you're an example household: a single ER nurse in Maryvale earning about $75,000, buying a $380,000 house inside city limits. You'd be over Open Doors' one-person cap, so your choice is between HOME Plus and Home in Five. Now add a spouse with no income and a child. Your household of three falls under $80,950, and Open Doors comes back into play.

What to ask your lender before you sign a purchase contract

Ask whether they're approved for both Home in Five and HOME Plus. Not every Valley loan officer is set up for both, and you'll only hear about the one they offer. Ask which Home in Five income limit they're using. Ask what happens to your second loan if you refinance in two years. And if you're going after Open Doors, ask whether they've closed a file with Trellis or CPLC before. The inspection, environmental review and timing add steps a lender should plan for in the contract dates.

Homebuyer education requirements also differ by program. Confirm which course each one accepts before you spend a Saturday on the wrong one. The homebuyer education guide covers the options.

If you're pre-approved, or about to be, and still aren't sure which layer fits your address and income, take the quiz. I'll look at where the house sits and what your household earns, then tell you which program to start with.