Nevada's Home Is Possible Program: What It Is, and Whether the Rate Is the Same

A good number of the buyers I sit with have heard the name "Home Is Possible" from a friend, a Realtor, or a quick internet search, but almost nobody can tell me what it actually does. They know it has something to do with help buying a house. Past that, it is mostly a blank.

So let me lay it out plainly, the good and the not so good, and answer the question I get asked most about it, which is whether the interest rate is the same as a regular loan. I am not going to tell you to use it or skip it. That is your call. I am going to give you the real picture so you can make that call with your eyes open.

What Home Is Possible actually is

Home Is Possible is a down payment assistance program run by the Nevada Housing Division, which is a state agency. The idea behind it is simple. Plenty of people in Nevada can comfortably handle a monthly mortgage payment but have a hard time pulling together the cash for the down payment and closing costs all at once. This program is built for exactly that gap.

Here is the short version of how it works. You get a regular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, and alongside it, the program provides assistance, generally up to around 4 percent of your loan amount, that goes toward your down payment and your closing costs. That assistance is structured so that if you stay in the home for about three years, it is forgiven. Forgiven means you do not pay it back. It is available across the whole state, not just certain cities, and unlike some programs, it is not limited to first-time buyers.

There are also two specialized versions worth knowing about. One is geared toward veterans and active military, and another is geared toward teachers. If either describes you, that is worth raising when we talk, because the terms can be a little more generous.

Are the rates the same as other programs?

This is the question, and here is the honest answer. No, usually not.

When you take down payment assistance through a program like this, the interest rate on your first mortgage is typically a little higher than the rate you would get on a standard loan without assistance. I am not going to quote you a number, because rates move every day and yours depends on your own file. But the direction is steady. The help is not free money in the pure sense. You are essentially trading a slightly higher rate, paid over the life of the loan, for cash assistance you do not have to bring to closing.

That is not a catch, and it is not a reason to walk away. It is just the structure, and you deserve to understand it. A program that hands you thousands of dollars at closing recovers that somewhere, and the way these programs do it is through the rate.

The honest pros

There is real value here for the right buyer. If the down payment is the only thing standing between you and a home, this program can move your timeline up by years. While you wait and save, rent is not pausing, and home prices in northern Nevada have not been pausing either.

The assistance can be forgiven, which means there is a real chance you never repay it at all. It covers closing costs, not just the down payment, so it tackles two expenses at once. And because it is not first-time-buyer only and reaches across the state, more people qualify than assume they do. It also lets you keep your own savings in the bank for moving, for small repairs, and for the cushion every new homeowner should have.

The honest cons

Now the other side. The higher rate is the main one. A slightly higher rate means a slightly higher monthly payment and more interest paid over the years you hold the loan. Over a long stretch, that adds up, and you should see those numbers before you decide.

There are income limits, so buyers who earn above a certain amount may not qualify, and those limits vary by county and change over time. There is a homebuyer education class and some added paperwork. Program funding runs in cycles, so the money can be fully committed at one point and then open back up later, which means timing matters. And if you sell or move out before the forgiveness period is up, you may have to pay the assistance back.

So is it worth it?

That depends entirely on you, and I mean that.

For a buyer who would otherwise spend the next two or three years saving a down payment, accepting a slightly higher rate to own now can be a smart move, because waiting has its own cost. For a buyer who is already close to having the down payment, a standard loan at a lower rate might be the better long-term math. Both of those buyers are making a reasonable choice. They just have different numbers.

There is no universal right answer here. There is only your answer, and it comes down to your income, your savings, your timeline, and how the monthly payment looks both ways.

That is the conversation I would rather have with you than send you off to guess. Call me, and we will run it both ways, with assistance and without, and you will see the real difference side by side. Then the decision is yours, and it will be an informed one.

Art Loera, Mortgage Branch Manager, PRMG. Reno, NV. NMLS #367308, licensed in Nevada. PRMG NMLS #75243. Branch NMLS #1091868. This article is general information about a state program, not a commitment to lend or financial advice. Program terms, funding, and eligibility are set by the Nevada Housing Division and can change.