Down Payment
Grants.
Own It provides $18,000 down payment grants for families to use toward the purchase of their first home.
Barriers,Eliminated.
Families awarded the grant will receive $18,000 to help buy a home — whether it’s an owner-occupied single-family house, condo, or duplex. Plus, this grant is made easier to use by removing many of the usual restrictions that can complicate buying a home.
Barriers to financing
One of the biggest challenges to owning a home is having enough money upfront. Yet, many down payment programs add extra hurdles that make the home buying process even more complicated than it needs to be.
Funds available to Black and brown families often come with:
- Income restrictions
- Sales price limitations
- Home location restrictions
- Payback requirements
- Extra contingencies
How we’re different.
Our innovative new funding model eliminates as many restrictions as possible, while still staying compliant with the Fair Housing Act.
Funds from our program have:
- No income limits or upper limits on assets
- No sale price limitations or location restrictions
- No extra contingencies or special requirements
- No interest and never require payback
- No restrictions on who you can work with
To comply with federal rules, funds are:
- For homebuyers who have not owned a home in the past 3 years.
- For the purchase of an owner-occupied single family, condo, or duplex.
- Available to all families, alumni, and staff affiliated with our community partners – regardless of race – after successfully completing the wealth building education program.
Who CanApply For Grants
Requirements
The following items are discussed in the Own It course and are required as part of a grant application:
- Certificates of completion for the Wealth Building and Homeownership course (provided by Own It)
- Completed mortgage loan application
- Completed, signed and notarized Own It Borrower Affidavit
- Pre-approval letter from a lender dated no more than 30 days prior to the grant application
- Copy of Buyer Agency Agreement including Realtor contact information
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for a grant, families must:
- Be affiliated with one of our community partners, including: One City Schools, Centro of Dane County, and Anesis Therapy (of any race or ethnicity)
- Be a first-time homebuyer, defined as: not owning property in the past 3 years OR are a single parent with a dependent child
- Have successfully completed both courses: “Wealth Building” and “Homeownership”
- Be ready to purchase an owner-occupied single-family home, condo, or duplex
There are two application windows a year, in February and August. No pre-awards are offered. If you have questions about how to apply, please email [email protected].
Dates for upcoming application periods are:
Opens February 1, 2025 and closes on February 14, 2025 with awards announced February 28, 2025.
Opens August 1, 2025 and closes on August 15, 2025 with awards announced August 29, 2025.
Application documents and specific instructions are provided directly to everyone who has successfully completed both education courses.
There is no guarantee that applications will be approved. All applicants are subject to review and grants are dependent on the availability of funds. If there are more applicants than funds available, eligible applicants will be placed in a pool and a lottery will be conducted to determine recipients.
If you have additional questions, contact the Own It team at [email protected].
Grant InformationFor Lenders
Our new funding model eliminates as many restrictions and barriers as possible, while still complying with the Fair Housing Act.
Funds from our grants can be stacked with other down payment assistance and have:
- No income limits or upper limits on assets
- No sale price limitations or location restrictions
- No extra contingencies or special requirements
- No interest and never require payback
- No restrictions on who you can work with
If you are a lender, please review these Lender Guidelines and email [email protected] with any questions.