Dream Keeper Down Payment Assistance Loan Program

Dream Keeper Downpayment Assitance

Learn about the Home Ownership Assistance that helps Families in San Francisco

If you are looking to buy a home in San Francisco, California, as first time homebuyers, read on to learn about a brand new home ownership initiative that can help.

The Dream Keeper Initiative is a citywide effort launched in 2021 to reinvest $60 million annually into San Francisco’s Black community. This Initiative is part of Mayor London N. Breed’s roadmap for reforming public safety and addressing structural inequities in San Francisco.

Offered in partnership with the Dream Keeper Initiative through the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (or MOHCD for short) is the Dream Keeper Downpayment Assistance Loan Program, or DK-DALP for short. DK-DALP provides first time home buyers with a down payment loan up to $500,000 to bid on a property on San Francisco's open market.

Dream Keeper Downpaymen Assitance Buying a Home in San Francisco_Black BIPOC.jpg

Program Basics

A few key points to remember:

The loan must be used on the downpayment of a residential property that will become a primary residence.
Eligible properties include single family residences, townhomes, condos, and 2-4 unit multi families
The owner can re-sell the unit at market prices
The DK-DALP is a no-interest, no-monthly payment, deferred loan that (requires no additional monthly payments)
Applicants must work with a MOHCD-approved lender on the DK-DALP preferred list

In the future, if the owner decides to sell or transfer the property, the owner pays MOHCD back the principal amount of the loan, plus an equitable share of appreciation.

Financials

As far as financials go, make sure you meet these requirements:

First-time homebuyers: no interest in a residential property in the last 3 years
Maximum income limit: 200% of the Median Income
Household size are no greater than the total number of bedrooms in the property plus one
Minimum borrow contribution is 1% from borrow’s own funds and/or from gifts
Post-purchase reserves are 2 months’ worth of housing payments
Liquid assets can be no more than $60K after purchase (there is no pre purchase asset limit)

Get started

Interested? Here's how to get started.

Before applying for the DK-DALP, the applicant must complete the following steps:

Attend a DK Homeownership Information Session
Complete a DK one-on-one counseling session with a DK Housing Counseling Agency
Complete 10 hours of first-time homebuyer education
Obtain a first loan pre-approval from a MOHCD-approved lender (See below for a list of DK-DALP Preferred Lenders)
Complete the DK-DALP Readiness Form to certify that you have completed all of the above steps. Upon certification, you will see a link to download the DK-DALP Application.
Complete the DK-DALP Application and gather your required documents into one PDF
Upload the PDF via this secure link

Special thanks to Michael Cadet with All California Mortgage for his help in creating this article.

About the author

#RealEsateShouldBeFun! Gabrielle Hooks is a SF Bay Area Realtor focused on the East Bay. Raised in Fremont and a resident of Oakland since 2013, she knows Richmond to San Jose like the back of her hand.

Her real estate motto: Go big. Go bold!

Performing live karaoke, playing bass guitar and rollerskating are a few of her favorite things.