First-Time Home Buyer Programs in North Dakota 2026

The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) runs the state’s first-time buyer loans. FirstHome serves buyers who haven’t owned a principal residence in three years. The DCA or Start add-on gives 3% of the first mortgage at closing, under a second lien that ends after 96 monthly payments. Sell or refinance before that, and you repay a pro-rated share.

NDHFA doesn’t lend to you directly. A participating lender takes your application, closes the loan and then sells it to the agency. So you are really choosing between NDHFA’s first-mortgage programs, and each one opens a different set of add-ons.

What counts as a first-time buyer at NDHFA

The homeownership page says: “You must not have owned a home as your principle residence within the last three years (including a manufactured home on a permanent foundation).” The agency’s 2026 lender training deck spells out the edges of that rule. Owning a vacation home or a rental in another city doesn’t disqualify you. Neither does owning vacant land or a mobile home that isn’t on a permanent foundation. The test covers the borrower, the borrower’s spouse, and anyone else who will live in the home and be secondarily liable on the loan. If your divorce won’t be final before closing, your estranged spouse also has to meet the program rules and sign the documents.

If you owned a home more recently than that, HomeAccess gives the same assistance and the FirstHome rate to these households: single parents with a dependent child living in the home at least half the time, veterans discharged other than dishonorably, and households where the borrower, spouse or a dependent is permanently disabled or 65 or older. Veteran status is shown with a DD-214. A disability is shown with a Social Security Disability Insurance award letter.

North Dakota’s income and price ceilings

FirstHome and HomeAccess use one statewide table. The income and purchase price limits page, effective June 15, 2026, sets household income at $105,730 for a family of fewer than 3 and $121,590 for 3 or more, in every county. An existing single-family home can cost up to $500,000, and so can new construction. The existing-home limits are $640,000 for a duplex, $773,000 for a triplex and $960,000 for a fourplex. NDHFA counts the income of the borrower, the spouse and any co-borrowers, including child support, Social Security and pension income. Compliance income is projected over the 12 months after closing, so it can differ from the number your underwriter uses.

DCA has its own, lower county table, effective July 15, 2026. In Cass, McLean and Steele counties, for example, a 4-person household can earn up to $92,150. The same household can earn $90,400 in Burleigh, Morton and Oliver. The table stops at 8 people. For larger families, the page says to check with NDHFA.

DCA and Start: a 3% credit with a 96-payment lien

Both add-ons give “three percent of the first mortgage loan amount in the form of a credit towards your out-of-pocket cash requirement,” and you can use it for the down payment, closing costs and prepaid items. The training deck says the full 3% must be used, “no rounding.” A second lien is recorded, but you make only one monthly payment. It ends on its own after 96 payments on the mortgage. If you sell, refinance or transfer the home earlier, you repay a pro-rated share. NDHFA’s example: on $5,000 of assistance, selling halfway through the 96 months means repaying $2,500. If the sale leaves you with less than that after paying the realtor, NDHFA may collect only the proceeds and forgive the rest.

The two differ in price and in who can use them. DCA is for lower incomes, carries the same interest rate as FirstHome Standard, and requires a homebuyer education certificate dated before closing. Start allows higher incomes but “has a higher interest rate,” and it is the only assistance available with North Dakota Roots. Neither can be combined with any other down payment assistance program, and neither works on a triplex or fourplex. For how these compare with other North Dakota options, see our North Dakota down payment assistance guide.

NDHFA rules that surprise buyers

• $500 at the closing table. “All of our programs require a $500 out-of-pocket cash investment.” The training deck says gift funds can count toward it.
• No agency credit-score floor. For FirstHome, the deck lists “No minimum credit score requirements” and no debt-to-income overlays. Your lender and the FHA, VA, USDA or conventional guidelines set those numbers.
• Acreage. FirstHome properties can’t exceed 10 acres. On a 40-acre parcel, you would have the house surveyed down to 10 acres and buy the rest separately. Roots allows up to 40 acres.
• Home businesses. A business can use no more than 15% of the finished living area. A daycare in a home used for normal living is the exception.
• Loan terms. The mortgage must be a 30-year loan, closing costs can’t be rolled into it, and no co-signers can go on title.
• Recapture tax. The FAQ says most borrowers won’t owe any. If you do, “NDHFA will reimburse the borrower if the home was purchased after October 1, 2006.”

Homebuyer education options NDHFA lists

NDHFA partners with CommunityWorks North Dakota and The Village Family Service Center on an eHome America online course. It costs $100, or $30 with the coupon code HOME30. The page also lists Freddie Mac’s CreditSmart Homebuyer U, Fannie Mae’s free HomeView class, a Lakes & Prairies Community Action Partnership class in the Fargo area, and free one-on-one coaching for American Indian and Alaska Native buyers. NDHFA’s program pages make the certificate a stated requirement only for DCA. For the other programs, its steps page recommends a class.

Starting an NDHFA loan in North Dakota

Pick a lender from NDHFA’s participating lender list. The lender reserves the loan on NDHFA’s site and uploads a compliance packet. Your file includes an Affidavit of Buyer that has to be notarized; the deck says e-signing isn’t allowed for it. After closing, NDHFA buys the loan, and you make your payments to either the local lender or NDHFA. The agency also keeps a list of FirstHome Certified Agents on its homeownership page.

• Closing costs in North Dakota
• Lenders active in North Dakota
• Affordability calculator · Payment calculator · Pre-approval
• FHA requirements · VA loan guide
• North Dakota hub · Minnesota · South Dakota · Montana

North Dakota FirstHome questions

I rent out a house I own in Minot. Am I still a first-time buyer?

Yes, as long as you haven’t lived in it as your principal residence in the last three years. NDHFA’s test looks only at a principal residence, and its training deck names a rental in another city as an allowed exception.

Is the 3% from DCA or Start a grant?

No. It is secured by a second lien and forgiven only after 96 monthly mortgage payments. Sell or refinance sooner, and you repay a pro-rated share.

What credit score does NDHFA want?

The agency sets no minimum of its own. The FAQ answers “Every situation is different” and sends you to a participating lender, whose FHA, VA, USDA or conventional guidelines control.

Can I stack a city program with DCA or Start?

No. NDHFA says each “cannot be used in conjunction with any other down payment assistance programs.”

I’m a veteran who owned a home last year. What can I use?

HomeAccess. It takes veterans discharged other than dishonorably who are past owners, with the FirstHome income and price limits, and it can carry DCA or Start.