By Hans Fetterhoff, Mortgage Broker, NMLS# 273273 — Broker House Mortgage, Colorado Springs

Down Payment Assistance in Colorado Springs and El Paso County

Saving the down payment is the wall most Colorado Springs buyers hit — not the monthly payment. El Paso County buyers have real help available: a state grant you never repay, a county second mortgage that forgives itself, and a nonprofit loan for first-time buyers. This page compares every legitimate program that applies to a purchase in El Paso County, with the income limits, the repayment terms, and the fine print stated the way the programs state it — so you can see which help fits before you fall for a house.

Ready to skip ahead? Call Hans at (719) 686-3652 or start your application online.

The three main programs, compared

CHFA: the state program most buyers start with

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is the biggest assistance source in the state, and Broker House is a CHFA participating lender. The short version: pick one assistance option per CHFA loan — the grant (lesser of $25,000 or 3% of your first mortgage, never repaid) or the deferred second mortgage (lesser of $25,000 or 4%, no monthly payments, due when the first loan ends). Every CHFA route requires a 620 mid-score, at least $1,000 of your own money in the deal, and the CHFA-approved homebuyer education class for every borrower before closing.

CHFA also runs two occupation-specific programs covered in full on our CHFA page: Schools To Home for full-time Colorado public school employees (a second mortgage of up to 25% of the first mortgage, repaid with a share of appreciation) and Colorado Champions for first responders and law enforcement (the 4% deferred second, with a statewide income limit of $196,810).

The full CHFA walk-through — every program, the El Paso County income and purchase price limits, and how CHFA pairs with VA and FHA loans — lives on our CHFA page.

Pikes Peak DPA: the county program with the forgivable 5%

The El Paso County Housing Authority's program is the one most national websites miss, because it's ours — it only works on homes in El Paso County. Pikes Peak DPA provides up to 5% of the loan amount as a 0% second mortgage for down payment and closing costs. There are no monthly payments. Half of it is forgiven over your first five years in the home, and the remaining half is forgiven at the end of the 30-year term — stay put, and the assistance effectively becomes a grant on a schedule.

The trade-offs, honestly: the credit floor is higher (640), and the income limit on a conventional first mortgage drops to $92,560 (it's $178,920 with FHA, VA, or USDA). There's no first-time buyer requirement and no purchase price cap — repeat buyers use this program too. And if you're a teacher, firefighter, law enforcement officer, medical professional, service member, or Veteran, the Hometown Heroes incentive adds a 1% grant on top for the first 75 eligible heroes to use the program.

CHAC: the small-dollar loan that fits unusual files

The Colorado Housing Assistance Corporation is a statewide nonprofit, and its assistance works differently from everything above: it's a loan you repay, sized at 6% of the price or appraised value (whichever is less), up to $12,000. You choose the shape — Immediate Payback (monthly payments from day one at 3% interest) or the 5-Year Deferral (five years with no payments and 0% interest, then repayment over 25 years at 5%). CHAC serves first-time buyers only (no ownership interest in a primary residence in the last three years), requires a homebuyer class plus a CHAC counseling session before closing, and requires at least 1% of the sales price from your own funds — and that 1% cannot be a gift. And — the detail that sometimes makes it the right piece — it does not require a CHFA first mortgage; it pairs with conventional and FHA loans. CHAC also runs a disability program: up to $10,000 at 0% interest, deferred for 30 years, due on sale or transfer.

The hyperlocal layer: city and land-trust programs

Two more options exist below the county level, and both are address-specific. Colorado Roots, run by the Impact Development Fund with Proposition 123 money, is an equity-share loan: up to 10% of the purchase price (maximum $50,000) for down payment, closing costs, and prepaids. There are no monthly payments; you repay the principal plus a matching share of your home's appreciation (receive 10% of the price in help, and 10% of the appreciation goes back) when you sell, transfer, pay off the first mortgage, or stop living in the home. It serves first-time and first-generation buyers with incomes between 50% and 120% of area median income, pairs only with conventional or portfolio first mortgages (FHA is not permitted), requires HUD-approved homebuyer training and at least the greater of $1,000 or 1% of the price from your own funds — and in El Paso County it only works inside the City of Colorado Springs and the City of Manitou Springs, the two local jurisdictions on its eligible list. The Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust works on a different model entirely: you buy the home while the trust holds the land under a long-term ground lease, which keeps the purchase price below market in exchange for resale limits that keep the home affordable for the next buyer. Its funding windows and available homes change as money comes and goes — which is why we verify its current status against your address and timeline in a conversation rather than printing terms that may be stale by the time you read them. If you're shopping in the city core or your budget needs one of these structures to work, ask us early: both programs reward buyers who plan around their rules.

Can programs stack? Sometimes — and the rules are the point

The question everyone asks: can I combine them? The honest framework:

• Inside CHFA, no doubling: one assistance option per CHFA loan — grant or second, never both. That's CHFA's rule.
• Across organizations, maybe: CHFA, the county's PPDPA, and CHAC each have their own rules about outside assistance, and your first mortgage's guidelines sit on top of all of them. Some combinations are expressly allowed, some are capped, and some quietly disqualify you.
• Seller concessions and gift funds are separate levers with their own caps (on FHA, for example, seller concessions cap at 6% of the price) — they layer differently than assistance programs do.

So stacking is a map we draw on your file, address, and first mortgage — never a promise we print. What we will promise: we'll check every program you plausibly qualify for before we tell you your cash-to-close number, because leaving eligible help unclaimed is the most expensive mistake in this market.

What about programs that don't apply here?

Down payment assistance is intensely local, and the internet is full of programs that stop at a border you can't see on a map. City programs from Denver or Aurora don't reach El Paso County. National "grant" ads often turn out to be lender credits with pricing trade-offs, or programs restricted to specific employers, census tracts, or professions. If a program promises money with no income limit, no class, no repayment, and no address rule, read it the way we'd read it with you: as marketing until the guidelines say otherwise. Every program on this page is one we can document from the organization that runs it.

Your next step

• Call (719) 686-3652 and we'll map your file against every program above — CHFA, PPDPA, CHAC, and the hyperlocal layer — in one conversation.
• Or start the application online — the assistance check is part of our pre-approval, not an add-on.
• First home? The full path is on our first-time home buyer page — and our free first-time buyer webinar covers assistance stacking with live Q&A: register here.
• Read more about Hans on his loan officer page.

You're Better Off With Fetterhoff.

By Hans Fetterhoff, Mortgage Broker, NMLS# 273273 — Broker House Mortgage

Educational information only — not a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to credit review, underwriting approval, and property appraisal. Assistance programs are offered by the organizations named, are subject to their guidelines and funding availability, and can change or close without notice; figures shown were verified at the sources noted in October 2026, and we confirm current terms for your file when you apply.

Hans Fetterhoff | Mortgage Broker | CO License #100009597 | NMLS# 273273
Lender Works, LLP dba Broker House Mortgage | Company NMLS# 2002619
529 N Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 | 719-686-3652 | brokerhousemortgage.com
Regulated by the Division of Real Estate
Equal Housing Opportunity
Verify licensing at NMLS Consumer Access: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

Last verified: October 29, 2026