First Time Home Buyers (or those who have not had a mortgage in the last 3 years)
Purchasing your first home in Greensboro is an exciting milestone. It can also feel daunting, mostly because of the upfront costs: the down payment, closing costs, and North Carolina's due diligence fee. Here is the good news. If you are a first-time buyer (or you have not owned a home in the last three years), there is real money available to help, and several of these programs got more generous since I last updated this post. The income limits went up, and the City of Greensboro raised its assistance amounts significantly.
Everything below is current as of August 2026. These programs change their numbers regularly, usually every summer, so always confirm the details before you count on them. That is part of what I do for my buyers at Joy Watson Real Estate. There is also a glossary at the bottom of this post, because financing comes with a lot of jargon and you deserve to know what the words mean.
Types of Loans
Before we get to assistance programs, know your basic loan types. Most buyers use a conventional loan, an FHA loan, a VA loan (for service members and veterans), or a USDA loan for rural areas. The federal government's overview of home loan programs is a solid place to start. The assistance programs below layer on top of these loans. They do not replace them.
Statewide Programs from the NC Housing Finance Agency
NC Home Advantage Mortgage™
This is the workhorse, offered by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA), the state's self-supporting public agency for affordable housing. The NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ pairs a fixed-rate loan (FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional) with down payment assistance of up to 3% of the loan amount. The assistance is a 0% interest deferred second mortgage. You make no payments on it, and it is forgiven at 20% per year in years 11 through 15, so after 15 years in the home it is gone entirely. Sell or refinance early and you repay the remaining balance.
Two big changes since my last update. First, the income limit is now a flat $158,000 statewide, based on the borrower's income alone rather than the whole household. That is a dramatic jump from the county-based limits of a couple of years ago, and it means a lot of Greensboro buyers who assumed they earned too much now qualify. Second, this program is not just for first-time buyers. Move-up buyers can use it too. You need a minimum credit score of 640, and there is currently no sales price limit on the home itself.
NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment
If you qualify for the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ and you are a first-time buyer (that three-year rule again) or an eligible military veteran, you may be able to get $15,000 in down payment help instead of the 3%. Same friendly structure: 0% interest, deferred, forgiven in years 11 through 15. The current sales price limit is $525,000, and income limits for this one do vary by county and household size. Check your number with NCHFA's income limit lookup, and select Guilford County. Buyers purchasing in certain targeted census tracts can also qualify without being first-time buyers.
Community Partners Loan Pool (CPLP)
For buyers earning no more than 80% of the area median income, the Community Partners Loan Pool can be the deepest source of help: up to 25% of the sales price, capped at $50,000, as a 0% interest deferred second mortgage when paired with an NC Home Advantage first mortgage. One honest caveat: unlike the programs above, this one is not forgiven. You repay it, without interest, when you sell or refinance. You will also complete eight hours of homebuyer education and counseling, and you apply through a participating nonprofit rather than a lender.
Local Programs in Greensboro and Guilford County
Housing Connect GSO Homebuyer Assistance Program
The City of Greensboro's Housing Connect GSO program got a serious upgrade, and it now has three tracks for first-time buyers purchasing inside Greensboro city limits:
Standard assistance: up to $25,000, plus a $5,000 bonus if the home is in a City-designated reinvestment or redevelopment area, for households at or below 80% of area median income.
Public Service Heroes: up to $20,000, plus a $10,000 bonus in targeted areas, for first-time buyers employed by the City of Greensboro, Guilford County, Guilford County Schools, or the military, including veterans, earning between 81% and 120% of area median income.
#100Homes: up to $20,000, plus a $5,000 targeted-area bonus, also for the 81% to 120% income range.
The city's program is administered by Housing Consultants Group, which also runs the eight-hour homebuyer education class: live virtual sessions offered two Saturdays a month, free if you live in or are buying in Greensboro or High Point ($100 otherwise). I recommend the class to every first-time buyer whether or not you use city money. Call Housing Consultants Group at 336-553-0946 to confirm current terms, the exact dollar income limits for your household size, and funding availability before you write an offer around this money.
Guilford County Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Program
Here is a detail plenty of people miss: Guilford County's own program covers homes in the county outside the city limits of Greensboro and High Point. Think Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, Pleasant Garden, Whitsett, Gibsonville, Sedalia, and the unincorporated areas in between. It offers $1,000 to $10,000 (up to 20% of the purchase price) as a 0% interest second mortgage that is fully forgiven after just five years, the shortest forgiveness period of anything on this list. Income must be at or below 80% of area median income, the minimum credit score is 600, you contribute at least $500 of your own funds, and you complete eight hours of homebuyer education. Housing Consultants Group administers this one too, at 336-850-4040.
One More Path: Habitat Greensboro
If your income falls below these program limits, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Greensboro builds and sells homes with affordable mortgages to qualifying buyers who partner on the build. It is a longer road, but for the right buyer it works.
Finding the Right Lender
The best place for any buyer to start is your own bank. They already have your financial data, which makes prequalification fast and painless, and it gives you a baseline rate to compare against. From there, it is worth shopping. Rocket Mortgage is another easy way to get prequalified, and they have done a great job on many transactions I have worked to close.
And these are lenders I love working with, and my clients have had good experiences with them:
Ashley McKenzie-Sharpe, Highlands Mortgage, 336-575-9448, ashley@highlandsmortgage.com
Julianne Poindexter, Barrett Financial, 816-726-4580, Julianne@barrettfinancial.com
Tena Anton, Atlantic Bay Mortgage, 336-254-8050, tenaanton@atlanticbay.com
Bret Barrow, JBMG Capital, 443-604-7456, bbarrow@jbmgcapital.com
One note if you plan to use the NCHFA programs above: those loans must go through a participating lender, so tell whoever you choose up front that you want the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ and confirm they offer it, or use NCHFA's lender search to find one.
A Quick Glossary (With Trusted Sources)
Financing has its own language. Here are the terms you will hear most, each linked to a primary source if you want to go deeper:
Down payment: the cash you put toward the purchase price upfront; the loan covers the rest. CFPB mortgage key terms.
Closing costs: the fees due at closing (appraisal, title work, taxes, lender charges), typically a few percent of the price on top of your down payment. CFPB mortgage key terms.
Due diligence fee and earnest money: two NC-specific payments made when your offer is accepted; the due diligence fee is generally nonrefundable, while earnest money is credited to you at closing. NC Real Estate Commission Q&A.
Prequalification vs. preapproval: both are a lender's estimate of what you can borrow; neither is a guaranteed loan. CFPB explainer.
Fixed-rate mortgage: a loan whose interest rate never changes over its life, so your principal and interest payment stays the same. CFPB mortgage key terms.
Deferred second mortgage: a second, smaller loan behind your main mortgage with no monthly payments; most of the assistance in this post takes this form, and "forgiven" means it is erased over time if you stay in the home. See NCHFA's program page for an example.
Area median income (AMI): the midpoint household income for our metro area, published annually by HUD; programs set limits as a percentage of it, like "80% AMI." HUD income limits.
Credit score: the number (typically 300 to 850) lenders use to gauge how you have handled debt; the programs above require 600 to 640 minimums. CFPB mortgage key terms.
Private mortgage insurance (PMI): insurance you pay on a conventional loan when you put down less than 20%; it protects the lender, not you. CFPB mortgage key terms.
Qualified census tract: a neighborhood HUD designates for extra housing investment; buying in one can unlock program flexibility. HUD qualified census tracts.
Tips for Potential Buyers
Start with the education class, even before you talk to a lender. You can register for the class here; it is free for Greensboro and High Point buyers, it counts toward the requirement for several programs, and the certificate is good for a year. Get your income documents together early, because every program on this list verifies income its own way. Ask your lender specifically about stacking: an NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ can be combined with CPLP, for example, and that combination can shrink your cash-to-close to nearly nothing. And remember that in North Carolina you will also need due diligence and earnest money when you make an offer, which assistance programs generally do not cover.
Income limits and assistance amounts on every one of these programs are adjusted regularly, so treat the numbers here as a snapshot as of August 2026 and verify before you plan around them. If you want help figuring out which programs fit your situation and which Greensboro neighborhoods fit your budget, reach out. This is exactly the kind of puzzle I enjoy.
This post is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Talk to your attorney, CPA, or lender about your situation.
Joy Watson Real Estate is an independent, non-corporate brokerage in Greensboro, NC. Joy Watson is a licensed North Carolina real estate broker (Broker-in-Charge). Questions about buying, selling, or renting in the Triad? Reach out through JoyWatsonRealEstate.com.
