First-time buyer programs in Massachusetts and Boston

Who qualifies as a first-time buyer

The term is broader than it sounds. Boston’s First-Time Homebuyer Program and ONE+Boston treat you as a first-time buyer if you have not owned a home in the past three years. Each program then adds its own limits, usually on household income (measured against the area median income for your household size) and sometimes on assets. Boston’s assistance program, for example, requires household income below 135% of the area median and assets below $100,000.

Help usually comes in layers that can be combined: an education class, a first mortgage with favorable terms, down payment and closing cost assistance, and, for some buyers, an income-restricted home sold through a lottery. Your lender is the person who checks which layers fit together for you.

Start with the homebuyer class

Most programs require a homebuyer education course before you apply. Boston’s assistance requires a Homebuying 101 class approved by CHAPA, the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association; ONE+Boston requires an approved pre-purchase class before you apply; MassHousing requires a homebuyer education class for its mortgage and down payment assistance. Take it early. Classes fill up, and the certificate is one of the first documents a program will ask for.

MassHousing and other statewide options

MassHousing, the state’s affordable housing lender, works through approved private lenders. You choose a participating lender and ask for a MassHousing mortgage; the lender determines whether you qualify for the loan and for down payment assistance, and borrowers must meet income limits.

Its down payment assistance is a second mortgage of up to $30,000 for income-eligible first-time buyers, paired with a MassHousing mortgage, for a single-family home, a condominium or a two- to four-family home that will be your primary residence. MassHousing lists three forms: up to $30,000 at 0% interest with no payments until the home is sold or refinanced or the first mortgage is paid off, and two 15-year loans of up to $25,000 at fixed rates of 2% and 3%. Which form you can use depends on your eligibility.

Massachusetts also supports the ONE Mortgage program for income-eligible first-time buyers through participating lenders. Ask lenders which statewide programs they offer and how each compares for your situation.

City of Boston programs

The Boston Home Center’s First-Time Homebuyer Program helps with the down payment and closing costs on a one- to three-family home or a condominium in Boston that will be your primary residence. You need a pre-approval from a participating lender, within Fannie Mae’s general loan limits, and a completed Homebuying 101 class.

ONE+Boston is for current Boston residents buying in the city. The city describes its 30-year fixed rates as discounted below the ONE Mortgage rates, with added down payment and closing cost help. Boston also runs programs for specific neighborhoods and sells income-restricted homes through the Boston Homes Lottery, with income limits of 80, 90 or 100% of the area median depending on the property. Outside Boston, ask the town’s housing office whether it runs its own program.

Conditions and timing

Read the terms before you rely on the money. Boston’s assistance is a grant for Boston residents. From September 15, 2026, assistance to buyers who do not live in Boston is a 0% deferred loan, secured by a mortgage and note and repaid on sale, transfer or refinance; non-residents who submitted a complete application with a signed offer or purchase and sale agreement by September 14, 2026 are not affected. MassHousing’s 0% assistance is also repaid when the home is sold or refinanced. Homes bought through Boston’s programs must be owner-occupied, and city-created income-restricted homes typically carry a 50-year resale restriction, a maximum resale price set by formula and a ban on renting the home out.

Programs add steps: eligibility review, documents and sometimes the program’s own sign-off on the home. Talk to a participating lender before you start touring, ask how long each step takes, and set the offer’s financing dates with those steps in mind. In a competitive market, a seller compares certainty as well as price; a buyer whose program is lined up in advance can write a cleaner offer.