Maine First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Programs Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock February 21, 2022 Autumn Cafiero Giusti is an award-winning journalist with over two decades of professional experience. She writes about mortgages, real estate and banking. Suzanne De Vita is the mortgage editor for Bankrate, focusing on mortgage and real estate topics for homebuyers, homeowners, investors and renters. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our mortgage reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the latest rates, the best lenders, navigating the homebuying process, refinancing your mortgage and more — so you can feel confident when you make decisions as a homebuyer and a homeowner. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Homebuyers have been clamoring for a piece of Maine. While that mean there’s a lot of competition out there for first-time homebuyers, there are also several available to help level the playing field. The Maine State Housing Authority, known as MaineHousing, connects first-time buyers with loan options and assistance programs to help make homeownership more affordable. In Maine, you’re considered a first-time buyer if you haven’t owned a home in the past three years. Maine first-time homebuyer loan programs
MaineHousing offers 30-year mortgages with low fixed rates and little to no down payment. For first-time homebuyers, options include: MaineHousing First Home Loan Program
MaineHousing’s First Home Loan Program provides first-time homebuyers with 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, either as a conventional, FHA, VA or USDA loan. There is little to no down payment required with many of these options. You can couple this mortgage with MaineHousing’s down payment and closing cost assistance program, dubbed “Advantage,” to maximize savings. The First Home Loan Program offers zero- and two-discount point interest rate options, with each point equaling 1 percent of the amount borrowed. You can pay for points upfront to lower your interest rate. First Home Loan mortgages also include payment protection in case you lose your job. Through Maine HOPE (“Home Ownership Protection for unEmployment”), borrowers in good standing who become unemployed can receive an advance of up to four mortgage payments, including taxes and homeowners insurance. The payments are packaged as a no-interest junior lien that only needs to be repaid when the home is sold or the first mortgage is paid off. Borrower requirements: 640 minimum credit score Must meet MaineHousing Property requirements: Must be a single-family home, two- to four-unit owner-occupied apartment building, condominium or mobile home Must meet MaineHousing Since MaineHousing mortgages are financed with mortgage revenue bonds, you might be subject to a federal recapture tax. That means if you sell your home within nine years of buying it and make a profit on the sale, and your income has risen significantly, the feds could tax a portion of the money you saved by having a MaineHousing mortgage. As of 2013, those who do pay this tax might qualify for a reimbursement from MaineHousing. MaineHousing Salute ME
Through MaineHousing’s Salute ME program, active-duty, veteran and retired military members can qualify for a 0.25 percent discount on a First Home 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. As with the First Home loan program, borrowers must meet income and purchase price limits to qualify. The agency waives the first-time homebuyer requirement for participants in the program, but borrowers must have either remained on active duty for 180 days or be within a war zone, or have been honorably discharged from military service. National Guard members who meet the requirements are eligible, as well. MaineHousing Self-Insurance for Mobile Homes
MaineHousing’s Self-Insurance for Mobile Homes option offers mortgages for first-time homebuyers of a single- or double-wide home on owned or leased land. Through this program, the agency self-insures mobile home loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio between 80 percent and 95 percent. In exchange, borrowers pay a higher interest rate, rather than pay for mortgage insurance. Borrower requirements: 5 percent down payment (at least 3 percent must come from your own funds) 640 minimum credit score Maximum 43 percent debt-to-income (DTI) ratio Property requirements: Must be a permanently attached mobile home built within the last 20 years (an unattached mobile home on leased land could qualify) Must not use more than 15 percent of the property for business purposes Maximum $200,000 purchase price MaineHousing Purchase Plus Improvement Program
MaineHousing’s Purchase Plus Improvement (PPI) Program allows you to finance a home purchase and repairs with a single mortgage, provided the cost of the home and the repairs doesn’t exceed First Home Loan purchase price limits. The PPI loan allows for $500 to $35,000 in financing for certain kinds of home improvements, including adding a garage or making energy-efficiency upgrades. The loan cannot be used for improvements like adding a deck or swimming pool. The work must begin within 30 days of closing the loan and be complete within six months (180 days) of closing. MaineHousing Indian Housing Mortgage Insurance Program
For Native Americans living on tribal reservations, it can be challenging to obtain a mortgage because of land-use or ownership restrictions that can make it more difficult to insure a loan. While not a loan in and of itself, MaineHousing’s Indian Housing Mortgage Insurance Program provides mortgage insurance for loans for property on tribal land, which removes some of the lending risk. The eligibility requirements for this program include: Borrower must appear on the annual census of the Passamaquoddy Tribe or Penobscot Nation, and property must be on the Penobscot Tribal Reservation, the Indian Township Passamaquoddy Reservation or the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation Borrower must meet credit, DTI ratio and employment requirements Financing must be to either buy or improve an existing or manufactured home or build a new home (or, for current homeowners, to refinance to a lower rate) Borrower must have funds for the down payment and closing costs Maine down payment assistance
Down payment assistance is available to MaineHousing borrowers who need help covering these costs. MaineHousing Advantage
Through the MaineHousing Advantage down payment and closing cost assistance program, qualifying homebuyers can receive up to $5,000 in cash toward a down payment or closing costs. To be eligible, the borrower: Must combine the assistance with a MaineHousing loan program (zero-point program only) Must complete a homebuyer education course Must contribute at least 1 percent of the loan amount to the purchase; the funds can be from a gift Other first-time homebuyer loan programs
In addition to MaineHousing programs, government mortgages such as FHA, VA and USDA loans offer terms and rates that can make it easier for first-time homebuyers to purchase a home. Your mortgage lender can point you to other specialized loans and assistance options, as well. guide can give you more insight into what other programs might be available to you. Get started
Once you have a handle on the first-time homebuyer loan and down payment assistance programs out there, an approved MaineHousing can guide you through the application process and help you find the options that best fit your situation. Terms and interest rates vary by lender, so it’s important to compare loan options carefully. First-time homebuyer programs in nearby states
Learn more
SHARE: Autumn Cafiero Giusti is an award-winning journalist with over two decades of professional experience. She writes about mortgages, real estate and banking. Suzanne De Vita is the mortgage editor for Bankrate, focusing on mortgage and real estate topics for homebuyers, homeowners, investors and renters. Related Articles