First in your family to buy? Minnesota built a program for you.

When your parents rented, you don't inherit the playbook — no one taught you about earnest money at the dinner table, and there's no family down-payment gift coming. Minnesota recognized that gap and funded a response: real money, specifically for first-generation buyers.

The headline: up to $35,000

Minnesota Housing's First-Generation Homebuyer Loan provides up to$35,000 toward down payment and closing costs, structured as a loan that isforgiven over time as you stay in the home (figures reviewed July 2026). Stay put, and it can effectively become a grant.

Who counts as "first-generation"?

In general terms, the program looks for buyers who:

• Are first-time homebuyers themselves (haven't owned in the past three years), and
• Whose parents (or legal guardians) do not currently own a home — with provisions for buyers whose parents lost a home to foreclosure, and for buyers who have aged out of foster care.

Eligibility details, income limits, and documentation have specifics that matter — this is exactly the kind of program where a 15-minute conversation with a lender who works with it saves you hours of forum-reading. It also pairs with Minnesota Housing's Start Up first mortgage; see how the pieces fit together.

The playbook nobody handed you — condensed

• Pre-approval comes before house hunting, not after you find "the one." Here's why.
• You need less cash than you think — especially with $35,000 potentially in play. Down payment truth.
• Your agent + your lender should coordinate. You're allowed — encouraged — to put them on the same call. That's the whole model here.
• Free help exists: Minnesota's HUD-approved housing counselors (via the Minnesota Homeownership Center) offer no-cost first-time buyer education, and some programs encourage or require a homebuyer course anyway.

You

You

I'd be the first person in my entire family to own a home. Honestly, I don't even know what questions to ask.

Spencer

Then don't start with questions — start with a conversation. Tell me your rent, your income, and your timeline, and I'll walk you through everything you'd have gotten at that dinner table, plus the $35,000 program your family couldn't have told you about because it's newer than most of my client relationships. Being first is the hard way. It's also the proud way.

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation is not affiliated with any government agencies. These materials were not approved by HUD, FHA, VA, USDA, Minnesota Housing, or any other government agency. Program terms and availability change; figures reviewed July 2026.