Every program available here, with the trade-off inside each one stated plainly instead of buried.
Every loan program gives you something and charges you for it somewhere else. Lower the down payment and you add mortgage insurance. Lower the rate and you pay points. Skip the tax returns and you accept a higher rate. Once you see the pattern, choosing gets much easier.
The default program for a borrower with solid credit. Three percent down is available to qualified buyers, mortgage insurance drops off at twenty percent equity, and the rate prices best of any program for a strong file. The trade is that credit and reserves matter more here than anywhere else.
Three and a half percent down, a lower credit bar and more room for a higher debt ratio. The trade is mortgage insurance that stays for the life of the loan on most files. FHA works well as an entry point, and many buyers refinance out of it once they have built equity.
Nothing down, no monthly mortgage insurance and no loan limit with full entitlement. The trade is a one-time funding fee, and that fee disappears entirely for a borrower with a service-connected disability rating. For an eligible veteran, nothing else on this page competes.
Nothing down in designated rural areas, and a surprising amount of Colorado qualifies once you leave the metro corridors. The trade is a household income ceiling and a map that decides eligibility by address.
Above the county conforming limit. Underwriting looks harder at reserves and documentation, and the rate often lands closer to conventional than buyers expect. Colorado limits move every year and run higher in the resort counties.
For self-employed borrowers and investors whose tax returns understate what the property or the business actually produces. Qualification runs on deposits or on the property income. The trade is a larger down payment and a rate above conforming.
The best program is the one that costs you least over the years you actually keep the house.
CHFA and several metro-area authorities layer down payment help on top of the programs above. Grants, silent second mortgages and closing cost assistance, each with its own income and price ceiling. They open and close with funding cycles, so ask what is available the month you buy.
Tell Steev your situation and he will narrow this list to the two programs that actually apply, then price both.
Reading is useful and a conversation is faster. If this topic is your actual situation, call and skip ahead.