Written By, David Hall

California Dream for All is a down payment assistance program through California Housing Financing Agency (CalHFA) that provides a buyer with up to a 20% down payment assistance, capped at a $150,000 down payment that is repaid, without interest, upon the sale of the home. If you haven’t heard of this already, it sounds too good to be true! What’s the catch? The catch is that the down payment assistance comes with a shared appreciation partnership. 

What’s shared appreciation? Essentially, they get a portion of the appreciation when you go to sell the home.  For instance, a “moderate income” borrower must give up 20% of any appreciation of the value of their home when they go to sell. It’s a slightly different formula for people whose income is less than 80% of the Average Median Income for your county. Please see the diagrams below that gives you a visual how each income level works with the shared appreciation.

The great thing about this down payment assistance is that it’s not strictly for low income borrowers. In Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer County, you can make up to $180,000 and still be eligible. For other county income limits Click Here.

So you’re within the income limits, great, but there are a few other criteria you must meet.  You have to be a First-Time Homebuyer which is defined as “someone who has not owned and occupied their home in the last three years, and who has not lived in a home owned by a spouse in the past three years.” On top of that, you need to be a First Generation Homebuyer. What’s a first generation homebuyer?  Well, according the CalHFA website, it’s:

• A first-generation homebuyer is defined as a homebuyer who has not been on title, held an ownership interest or have been named on a mortgage to a home (on permanent foundation and owned land) in the United States in the last 7 years, AND;
• To the best of the homebuyer’s knowledge whose parents (biological or adoptive) do not have any present ownership interest in a home in the United States or if deceased whose parents did not have any ownership interest at the time of death in a home in the United States, OR;
• An individual who has at any time been placed in foster care or institutional care (type of out of home residential care for large groups of children by non-related caregivers).

If you meet all the above criteria and want to utilize this program you have to contact a CalHFA approved lender and learn what you need to do to get your hands on a California Dream for All Approval Letter, take the 1 hour course, gather all the required documents then register for your voucher before the April 29th deadline at 5:00 pm. 

This is a lottery so even if you meet all the criteria and apply, you may not be chosen. Does this sound like a program that could work for you? If you have any questions please reach out to me and I can connect you with my preferred lender, Greg Spallas with Guaranteed Rate Affinity who is an approved CalHFA lender.