How does Florida Hometown Heroes down payment assistance work?

Use the free tool — Closing Cost Check FL

What Hometown Heroes Is

Florida Hometown Heroes is a down-payment and closing-cost assistance program from Florida Housing, for eligible full-time workers. It comes as a second mortgage.

How the Money Works

It is a second mortgage.
The rate is 0%.
Payment is deferred.
You repay it when you sell the home or refinance.

Funding levels change. Check current funding with Florida Housing before you count on it.

Where It Shows Up on Your Closing Disclosure

If you're approved, the assistance should appear as a credit on your Closing Disclosure. Confirm it is there before you sign. If it's missing, ask your lender why.

Other Help to Know About

Florida Housing's other first-time-buyer programs.
County SHIP purchase assistance — separate from Hometown Heroes, run by your county.
FHA, VA and USDA loans allow seller concessions — a related but different form of help. Limits apply; ask your lender for the limit on your loan type.

Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Is my Hometown Heroes assistance actually credited on this Closing Disclosure?
Is it a second mortgage with a 0% rate and deferred payment, and is that written down?
What triggers repayment — sale, refinance, or both?
Is the funding for this program still open right now?

This is not legal or financial advice. Confirm eligibility, funding and terms with Florida Housing or your lender before you rely on this assistance. Florida Housing — Homebuyer programs

What to Do Next

Paste your Closing Disclosure or describe your deal into the free tool. It reads your own numbers and shows whether a down-payment-assistance credit is on the statement, what changed since your estimate, and the questions to ask your closing agent — in English or Spanish. Nothing is stored.

The full version — $9

Closing kit · One closing: annotated fee list, changed-circumstance request, agent questions, wire checklist, closing-day checklist, tolerance-refund letter, summary

Use the free tool

Closing Cost Check FL explains Florida closing costs and federal disclosure rules in plain language from official sources; it can be wrong, and it is not legal, financial or tax advice. Your contract and the closing agent's figures control. Nothing you paste is stored.