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Pennsylvania program

Philly First Home

Pennsylvania route through City of Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development and Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation. This page stays free for the core public facts. Open paid access only when you need the full state board, related paths, and the decision layer around this program.

Grant with 15-year forgivable lien conditions Check official rules 2026-04-21
Agency City of Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development and Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation
Support type Grant with 15-year forgivable lien conditions
Amount highlight Current official materials show up to $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, for principal reduction, down payment, and closing costs.
Last verified 2026-04-21

Use carefully

Use the current 2022-plus materials, not the older 2019 launch rules

This page stays public because the official structure is still useful, but these details should not be flattened into fake certainty.

Philly First Home is live and detail-safe, but older launch-era materials still preserve broader AMI and residency wording that should not override the current city and PHDC pages.

Source note: Older 2019 and 2020 materials used broader AMI language and different prior-ownership wording, while the current city page, current PHDC page, and current 2025 flyer use a 100% AMI cap and a counseling-first intake path.

Decision-ready public facts

What stays free on this program page

Quick answer from published facts. Use this first, then jump to Go to Pennsylvania program hub if you need the wider state context.

Amount

Current official materials show up to $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, for principal reduction, down payment, and closing costs.

Type

Grant with 15-year forgivable lien conditions

Repayment

Current official materials say the assistance is fully forgiven after 15 years if the buyer keeps the home as a primary residence. Current PHDC materials also say sale, lease, or cash-out refinance before the 15-year term can trigger repayment. Relaunch-era official materials describe the assistance as a subordinate lien tied to the property.

First-time buyer

Required

Program guide

What to know before you click through

This is still the free fact layer. Open the official source when a detail affects eligibility, repayment, lender choice, or whether this path should stay on your shortlist.

Who qualifies?

First-time homebuyers or buyers who have not owned a home during the previous three years, Income-qualified households under the current 100% AMI limit, Buyers purchasing an eligible Philadelphia single-family home or duplex as a principal residence, Applicants who complete required City-funded one-on-one counseling before agreement of sale

What support do you get?

Current official materials show up to $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, for principal reduction, down payment, and closing costs.

Do you repay it?

Current official materials say the assistance is fully forgiven after 15 years if the buyer keeps the home as a primary residence. Current PHDC materials also say sale, lease, or cash-out refinance before the 15-year term can trigger repayment. Relaunch-era official materials describe the assistance as a subordinate lien tied to the property.

How do you apply?

Start with a City-funded one-on-one counseling agency before signing an agreement of sale, complete the required counseling and eligibility review, and let the counselor submit the grant request through the PHDC and title-company closing flow.

Official source evidence

Current city and PHDC materials show Philly First Home can provide up to $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, and now use a 100% AMI cap with a counseling-first application path.

View official source

Last verified

2026-04-21

Current 2025 flyer and current city / PHDC pages

Paid preview

What paid access adds for Philly First Home

See the shape of the comparison output, risk checks, lender questions, and next-step checklist before you decide whether this program is worth carrying into the paid layer.

Example paid output for this program. The free page stays visible either way.

Comparison preview

Philly First Home

Amount: Current official materials show up to $10,000 or 6% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, for principal reduction, down payment, and closing costs.

Repayment: Current official materials say the assistance is fully forgiven after 15 years if the buyer keeps the home as a primary residence. Current PHDC materials also say sale, lease, or cash-out refinance before the 15-year term can trigger repayment. Relaunch-era official materials describe the assistance as a subordinate lien tied to the property.

First-time buyer: Required

Risk checks preview

What gets flagged before you call a lender

  • Philly First Home can trigger repayment on sale or refinance.
  • Philly First Home can trigger repayment if owner occupancy changes.

Lender questions preview

Questions tied to this exact path

  • Which events trigger repayment for Philly First Home: sale, refinance, non_owner_occupancy?
  • How does Philly First Home define a first-time buyer for this household?

Action checklist preview

What you would do next

  • Confirm the first-time buyer definition before you apply
  • Review the official City of Philadelphia service page for Philly First Home
Open the full Pennsylvania board

Paid research preview

What paid research already covers in Pennsylvania

Paid research already tracks city and county programs, employer-assisted paths, specialty and conditional paths for Pennsylvania.

7 tracked deeper records

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What unlocks after payment

Specific program names, source notes, current-vs-conditional judgments, and the next lender or agency questions tied to this state.

2 tracked

city and county programs

City and county down payment or closing-cost programs that never make it into the free statewide layer.

1 tracked

employer-assisted paths

Employer-linked housing incentives and workforce programs that matter only if they fit your job or agency.

4 tracked

specialty and conditional paths

Conditional, paused, or specialty paths worth checking before you assume the state is a dead end.

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Private workspace

What paid access adds after the free facts

This page stays free for public facts. Paid access turns this program into a shortlist item, a related-path decision layer, risk checks, lender-call prep, and a next-step queue.

If the public facts still look relevant, paid access is where you decide whether this path is stronger than your fallback and what to do next.

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