First Time Home Buyer Programs By State

Run by the State of Maryland

HomeStart — 6% down payment help

The most generous help Maryland gives. Six percent of your loan, zero interest, deferred a full thirty years. The catch is the income ceiling — you need to earn at or under half your area’s median. If that’s you, start here.

Go straight to the source → Find an approved lender on Maryland DHCD’s official site —
or call 301-429-7852
What you get
6%
Deferred loan — 0% / 30 yr
When you repay it
Deferred 30 years
Or until you sell or refinance — whichever comes first.
Credit score
Your lender decides
Maryland doesn’t publish one. We asked — answer coming.
Income limit
50% of area median
See Maryland’s limits →
First-time buyer?
3+ years, no home
Veterans using their exemption may be exempt.
Last checked
July 11, 2026
Next check August 10, 2026. We do this every month.
What it actually costs you ▼
Nothing up front, nothing monthly, and nothing for thirty years. It’s still a loan — but a deferred, interest-free one is about as close to free as housing money gets.
Who qualifies ▼

Rules just for this program:

  • Household income at or below 50% of your area’s median income (AMI) — this is stricter than the other programs
  • You must take the MMP first mortgage
  • Deferred 30 years, or until you sell or refinance

Maryland’s standard rules apply to this program — the 3-year rule, primary residence, an approved homebuyer class, county income limits, and the cash-on-hand cap.

See all of Maryland’s standard rules →

Watch out for ▼
  • The 50% AMI ceiling is strict, and lower than the other programs’ limits. A raise, or a second earner joining the household, can put you over it.
  • Check your county’s current AMI table before you count on this one. AMI varies enormously across Maryland — 50% in Montgomery County is a very different number than 50% on the Eastern Shore.
What it stacks with ▼
  • Maryland’s site doesn’t say whether HomeStart can stack with Partner Match.
We’re on it

We’ve asked DHCD directly. When they answer, it goes right here.

How to apply ▼
You don’t apply to the state directly. You go through a Maryland-approved lender, and they handle it. Maryland keeps a searchable directory of every approved lender.

Take your homebuyer education class early — it’s required, and it can hold up your closing if you leave it to the end.

Find an approved lender → Call Maryland: 301-429-7852
Where this came from ▼
Every fact on this page was read off the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development‘s own page on July 11, 2026 by a human. Not scraped, not copied from another site.

Official page: mmp.maryland.gov
Phone: 301-429-7852
Checked again: August 10, 2026, and every month after that.

← Back to all Maryland programs

Want us to do the legwork for you?

Programs change and funding runs out. We watch this one every month.

The honest fine print

Everything on this page came from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s own pages at mmp.maryland.gov, read by a human on July 11, 2026. Every program links back to its source so you can check us. We’re not a government agency, we’re not a lender, and we’re not affiliated with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Programs change and funding runs out. If one ever expires or pauses, we’ll say so right here rather than quietly deleting it.

This is information, not advice. Talk to a state-approved lender before making decisions about a mortgage.

Found something out of date? Tell us — genuinely. We’d rather hear it from you than leave it wrong.