Buying a home in Texas: the help you may qualify for.

Down payment and closing cost help

From the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

• My First Texas Home Military and heroes

  Up to 5% of the loan

  0% second lien, either deferred for 30 years or forgiven after 3 years, with a low-interest first mortgage. The assistance fee is waived for veterans.

Who qualifies: First-time buyers (no home owned in three years; veterans may be exempt), credit score 620+, income and price limits, through a participating lender. Some cities and counties add local gift funds.

Property tax exemptions and credits

Exemptions lower your home’s taxable value or your bill. Most aren’t automatic: you apply with your county appraisal district. Texas’s official exemptions information.

For homeowners who live in the home

• Residence homestead exemption

  $140,000 off your home's value for school taxes

  For a home you own and live in as your principal residence. Cities, counties and other taxing units may also take off up to 20% of the value (at least $5,000).

  How to apply: Form 50-114 with your county appraisal district, before May 1. (Tax Code §11.13)

For homeowners 65 and older

• Age 65 or older, or disabled

  Another $60,000 off for school taxes

  On top of the homestead exemption. Local taxing units may add more. Disability means meeting the Social Security disability definition.

  How to apply: Form 50-114 with your county appraisal district. (Tax Code §11.13(c), (d))

For veterans

• Disabled veteran exemption

  $5,000 to $12,000 off, by disability rating

  $5,000 for a 10 to 29% rating, $7,500 for 30 to 49%, $10,000 for 50 to 69% and $12,000 for 70 to 100%. Veterans 65 or older with at least a 10% rating may get $12,000.

  How to apply: Form 50-135 with your county appraisal district. (Tax Code §11.22)

• 100% disabled veteran homestead exemption

  Full exemption on your homestead

  For veterans receiving 100% disability compensation with a 100% rating or individual unemployability. It can carry over to a surviving spouse who hasn't remarried.

  How to apply: Form 50-114 with your county appraisal district. (Tax Code §11.131)

For surviving spouses and other situations

• Surviving spouse of a first responder

  Full exemption on your homestead

  For the surviving spouse of certain first responders killed or fatally injured in the line of duty, while not remarried.

  How to apply: Form 50-114 with your county appraisal district. (Tax Code §11.134)

Want to see which ones fit you? Answer a few questions in the property tax exemptions checker.

Your next steps

1. Work out a monthly cost you’re comfortable with in the home cost calculator. It also lists Texas’s programs with the loans you may qualify for.
2. Talk with a free or low-cost HUD-approved housing counselor. Find one near you.
3. Ask each lender which of these programs they work with, and compare Loan Estimates from at least three.
4. Follow the step-by-step home buyer’s guide from budget to keys.

Common questions