Los Angeles bank grant guide
What Realtor Can Help Me Use a Bank Homebuyer Grant in Los Angeles?
The short answer
I am Justin Borges of The Borges Real Estate Team at eXp Realty (DRE #01940318, (213) 262-5092), a Los Angeles realtor who helps buyers use a bank homebuyer grant. A bank grant belongs to that bank's own loan, so my side is the property and the offer, while the bank's written rules set eligibility, income limits and the grant amount, and the loan officer tells you how they apply to you. This page routes you to each of the 5 guides below.
Three choices shape a bank program purchase in Los Angeles: which guide to open, what order to work in, and what changes in your offer once a program rides on the loan. The sections below settle those briefly and link out for anything deeper, so you can move from this page to the guide that covers your lender, if it is one of the four banks here.
A bank named a program, no home yet?
A loan officer has named a bank program, and you have not picked a home. Buyers new to the process can see the full buying process in the free webinar for first-time buyers, the Los Angeles listings show what is for sale, and the guides below take four banks' programs one at a time.
What does a realtor do on a bank grant deal, and what does the loan officer decide?
On a bank grant purchase, the bank's written rules set eligibility, income limits and the grant amount, and the loan officer tells you how they apply to you; I help you find the home and write the offer. A realtor is not a lender, and I do not tell you whether a program fits your income.
| Question | Who handles it |
|---|---|
| Eligibility, income limits and the grant amount | The bank, through the loan officer |
| Which homes to tour, and how a home's price compares with any written price or loan limit the program sets | The realtor, with you |
| The offer's draft | The realtor, with you |
In Los Angeles, a program's address test follows the street address on the listing, not the neighborhood name in the ad. A listing sold under a name like Eagle Rock or Boyle Heights still sits at one street address, and the address is what a program's address test checks. Two homes sold under the same neighborhood name can sit on different sides of a program's line.
The Chase Homebuyer Grant shows the rule at work: the grant applies only where the home sits in an eligible census tract, so the address decides whether the grant is in play (Chase, Chase Homebuyer Grant disclosure, checked November 9, 2026).
Text me the street address and the program name, and I will look up the address against that program's address test where one is published and tell you what I find before you tour. Text (213) 262-5092
How is a bank grant different from CalHFA and city down payment help?
A bank grant or credit rides on that bank's own loan, so one bank takes your whole application. A public program sits as a second loan beside your first mortgage, so its money arrives from a second source.
The California guide sets out how grants, loans and shared-appreciation programs differ: What First-Time Home Buyer Grants Can I Get in California in 2026?
CalHFA runs through a CalHFA-approved lender (CalHFA, Borrower Eligibility Requirements, checked November 9, 2026). The City of Los Angeles program runs through the lenders on LAHD's participating list (City of Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), Low Income Purchase Assistance (LIPA) Program, checked November 9, 2026). The County Home Ownership Program runs through its own participating lenders (LACDA, Home Ownership Program, checked November 9, 2026).
The California guide sets out what the Bank of America, Citi, Chase and U.S. Bank pages say about repayment. CalHFA MyHome, by contrast, is a deferred-payment junior loan, not a grant (CalHFA, MyHome Assistance Program, checked November 9, 2026).
Browse Los Angeles houses for sale, newest first, and jot down the street address of any home that catches your eye. Browse current Los Angeles listings
Which guide answers my program question?
Find your lender or program in the first column, then open the guide beside it.
| Your question | The program | The guide |
|---|---|---|
| My lender is Chase | Chase DreaMaker mortgage and the Chase Homebuyer Grant | What Is the Chase DreaMaker Mortgage and Who Qualifies in Los Angeles? |
| Bank of America in Los Angeles | Bank of America: whether the Community Affordable Loan Solution is available in Los Angeles and what Bank of America's current pages list | Is Bank of America's Community Affordable Loan Solution Available in Los Angeles? |
| A Citi program or credit | Citi HomeRun Mortgage and Citi Lender Paid Assistance (no Citi page read for these guides lists a product called Lend Grant) | Can I Use the Citi HomeRun Mortgage or Citi Lender Paid Assistance in Los Angeles? |
| U.S. Bank American Dream | U.S. Bank American Dream | What Is the U.S. Bank American Dream Loan and Who Qualifies in Los Angeles? |
| Help beyond one bank | California grants and city and county programs | What First-Time Home Buyer Grants Can I Get in California in 2026? |
In what order do I do things?
A bank program purchase in Los Angeles runs in three steps: the loan officer's written answer, a home search, then the offer.
Step 1: you get the loan officer's answer on which program fits and what it requires; the article Lender or Realtor First When Buying a Home in LA? weighs that starting choice.
Has your loan officer written down a program name? Text it to me and I will reply with the guide above that covers it, or tell you none of them does. Text (213) 262-5092
Step 2: the home search covers only homes that fit what step 1 gave you in writing.
Step 3: the offer comes last, after your loan officer's answer and our search are done. If you add the City's LIPA loan, one number to check first: LIPA caps the purchase price at $956,465 for a home inside the City of Los Angeles, so the price you agree to, not the list price, has to land at or under it (City of Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), Low Income Purchase Assistance (LIPA) Program, checked November 9, 2026).
What changes in my offer when I use a bank program?
A program changes which homes we can offer on and which terms your offer can carry, because the loan behind it has limits, and you get them from the loan officer in writing.
Any price or loan limit and any area rule the program sets decide which homes we put an offer on. The seller still decides whether to accept it, and no program changes that.
I line your offer's terms up with the program's terms, so the contract and the loan describe the same purchase. The article Can I Stack a Bank Grant With CalHFA or LA City Down Payment Assistance? covers whether a bank grant and public help can share one purchase.
Call me with the listing you want and your lender's written terms, and we will draft the closing-date and seller-credit lines for your offer, for you to review with your loan officer. Call (213) 262-5092
Can I keep a bank grant if I compare lenders?
You keep a bank's grant only if that bank funds your loan, so comparing lenders means comparing each lender's program.
Compare the loan's whole terms, not the grant alone, since the grant is one line in a purchase whose loan you will repay. A bank without a grant can still offer the better loan, and a bank with one can offer the weaker. The routing table above has a guide for Chase, Bank of America, Citi and U.S. Bank, so if you are weighing any of those four, open its guide and read the terms side by side before you choose a loan.
Bank of America's Down Payment Grant shows why: the loan must fund with Bank of America for the grant to apply (Bank of America, Bank of America's Community Homeownership Commitment, checked November 9, 2026).
Two lenders, one shortlist
Text me two lenders' written price or loan limits and the homes on your shortlist, and I will mark which homes sit under both limits, for you to review with each loan officer; the listings search is where you build that shortlist.
What should I ask any agent before I hire one for a program purchase?
Five questions tell you whether an agent has worked program purchases in Los Angeles, where a program's address rules and a lender's written terms shape the work before an offer exists. The five below are plain enough for a first call, and each has a good answer you can hold the agent to. The guide How to Choose a Realtor for a CalHFA or Down Payment Assistance Buyer in Los Angeles covers the CalHFA side of that choice.
Text me and I will answer the same five questions in writing about my own work, so you can set my answers beside the other agents you interview. Text (213) 262-5092
- How many purchases with a bank or public program have you closed? A good answer gives a number.
- Will you read the lender's written program terms before showing me homes? A good answer is yes, before the first tour.
- How do you check a home's street address against a program's address test? A good answer names the map, tract lookup or list.
- Who do you work with on the lender side? A good answer names the loan officer.
- How do you handle a seller who will not accept a program offer? A good answer keeps the program in play.
Frequently asked questions
Is a bank homebuyer grant taxable?
Chase's disclosure says its grant may be considered miscellaneous income and may be reportable on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1042-S ( Chase, Chase Homebuyer Grant disclosure, checked November 9, 2026 ). I am a realtor, not a tax advisor, so a California tax professional is the person to ask about your return, and the Chase DreaMaker guide covers that program.
Can a seller credit pay my down payment?
Fannie Mae does not permit interested-party contributions, which include seller credits, to pay the borrower's down payment. It caps those contributions at 3%, 6% or 9% of the lower of price or value, depending on loan-to-value ( Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B3-4.1-02, Interested Party Contributions (IPCs), checked November 9, 2026 ). That rule covers conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae, and a bank's own program may be stricter.
What 2026 loan limit does a Los Angeles purchase face?
FHFA's 2026 county table lists Los Angeles County at $1,249,125 for a one-unit home ( FHFA, Full County Loan Limit List 2026, checked November 9, 2026 ). The baseline in most of the country is $832,750 ( FHFA, FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026, checked November 9, 2026 ). Your lender says which limit applies to your loan, and a bank's own program may set a different cap.
Text me the loan amount your lender has quoted and I will set it beside the FHFA county limit above and tell you which county row I used. Text (213) 262-5092
Do I have to be a first-time buyer for a bank grant?
Bank of America's Down Payment Grant is for first-time homebuyers with no homeownership in the past three years ( Bank of America, Bank of America's Community Homeownership Commitment, checked November 9, 2026 ). The Citi and U.S. Bank guides say what their bank's page lists on this question, and the Chase guide covers it for the DreaMaker loan.
How current is the program information on this page?
The program facts here were read on their sources' own pages on November 9, 2026, and the Sources list at the bottom prints that date beside the title of the page read. Banks pause, rename and relaunch programs, so a page read on one date can change, and the source's own page holds the current version.
Which of these banks are on LAHD's participating lender list?
LAHD's Participating Lenders list, dated through September 30, 2026, which LAHD had not replaced when read November 9, 2026, lists U.S. Bank ( LAHD, Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) Participating Lenders, checked November 9, 2026 ). Chase, Bank of America and Citi are not on it. The list belongs to the City program, so check the current list on LAHD's site.
Which lender, and which homes?
Leaning toward a lender? Text me its name and I will check it against LAHD's participating lenders list and tell you what the list shows; the listings search is where you pick the homes you would take to that lender.
Sources
- Chase Homebuyer Grant disclosure, chase.com. Checked November 9, 2026.
- Borrower Eligibility Requirements, California Housing Finance Agency (calhfa.ca.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
- Low Income Purchase Assistance (LIPA) Program, Los Angeles Housing Department (housing.lacity.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
- Home Ownership Program, lacda.org. Checked November 9, 2026.
- MyHome Assistance Program, California Housing Finance Agency (calhfa.ca.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
- Bank of America's Community Homeownership Commitment, promotions.bankofamerica.com. Checked November 9, 2026.
- Selling Guide B3-4.1-02, Interested Party Contributions (IPCs), Fannie Mae (selling-guide.fanniemae.com). Checked November 9, 2026.
- Full County Loan Limit List 2026, Federal Housing Finance Agency (fhfa.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
- FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026, Federal Housing Finance Agency (fhfa.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
- Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) Participating Lenders, Los Angeles Housing Department (housing.lacity.gov). Checked November 9, 2026.
About the author
Justin Borges
REALTOR® | CA DRE #01940318
Justin writes LA Metro Home Finder’s guides to 30+ communities across the San Gabriel Valley, Northeast LA, and greater Los Angeles, and has closed $200M+ in career sales with a 106% average list-to-sale ratio.
Justin has held an active California DRE salesperson license since October 2013. View Justin’s author profile.
This guide is educational and is not legal, tax, title, lending, or insurance advice. Contract forms, statutes, and lender rules change. Confirm the terms that apply to your sale with your escrow officer, title officer, lender, or a California real estate attorney.
