FHA Loan Requirements: Credit, Down Payment and How to Apply
FHA loan rules explained: the 580 and 500 credit score tiers, 3.5% or 10% down, mortgage insurance, 2026 loan limits and how to apply with a lender.
KPCB Staff · May 7, 2021
2 guides
Low Income Mortgage
Guides to buying a home on a low income: FHA loan requirements, down payment help, and what housing grants really are.
Check what you may qualify for 
Buying a home on a low income is possible, but the help comes in a different form than most people expect. Federal housing grants go to states and cities, not to individual buyers. They pass the help on as down payment assistance and similar programs, and there are repair grants for existing owners. What housing grants are explains where the real help comes from and how free housing counselors can point you to it.
The program most first-time buyers meet first is the FHA loan, which has credit score tiers (580 with 3.5% down, or 500 with 10% down). Our FHA requirements guide covers those tiers, mortgage insurance, loan limits and how to apply through a lender.
If you rent with a Section 8 voucher, some housing agencies let voucher holders put their help toward buying a home, but they do not have to offer it. Ask your agency, and see the Section 8 housing guide. Before you borrow, talk to a free HUD-approved housing counselor.
Guides
Everything on Low Income Mortgage
What Are Housing Grants? Where Real Housing Help Comes From
Federal housing grants go to states and cities, not to you directly. Learn how down payment help, USDA repair grants and free housing counselors work.
KPCB Staff · Oct 29, 2020
From the archive
Where these programs began
Public-domain photographs from the history of these programs.
