Buying your first home in Grand Rapids

Is there down payment help for first-time buyers in Grand Rapids?

Yes, in two layers: MSHDA's statewide assistance, which allows higher incomes in the City of Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Wyoming than in most of the rest of the county, and a small city fund for lower-income buyers inside city limits that works only through the city's own list of lenders.

MSHDA's MI 10K DPA in Kent County

MSHDA's MI 10K DPA lends up to $10,000 anywhere in Michigan toward the down payment, closing costs and prepaid expenses. It is interest-free with no monthly payment, and you repay it when you sell, refinance or pay off the first mortgage, or when the home stops being your primary residence. Every buyer needs a homebuyer education certificate. It must be paired with MSHDA's MI Home Loan (FHA, conventional or USDA, not VA), which needs a 640 credit score and a sales price of $566,355 or less (from June 1, 2026). With the assistance, MSHDA also requires at least 1% of the purchase price to come from you, and a gift counts. MSHDA counts the income of every adult in the household toward its limit, and everyone on the loan must live in the home.

Income limits depend on where the home is. MSHDA's limits for Kent County, effective June 1, 2026:

In the targeted areas you do not have to be a first-time buyer for an MSHDA MI Home Loan or the assistance that pairs with it. Elsewhere in Kent County, MSHDA's first-time rule is no home ownership in the previous three years. Our down payment assistance page explains how deferred, forgivable and grant assistance differ.

The City of Grand Rapids Homebuyer Assistance Fund

The city's Homebuyer Assistance Fund offers up to $7,500 toward the down payment, closing costs and prepaid expenses. The city's program summary describes it as a zero-interest second mortgage that is forgiven after five years in the home. The requirements include:

• Your mortgage comes from one of the participating lenders the city lists on the program page. We are not on that list, so if this fund is part of your plan, choose one of the listed lenders.
• The home is inside Grand Rapids city limits, is priced within HUD's limits, meets HUD's minimum property standards and the program's lead-based paint rules at closing, and passes structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing inspections.
• Household income is at or below 80% of the area median income. The city's table, effective June 1, 2026, puts that at $85,300 for a household of four.
• You have not owned a home in the last three years, and your household has $10,000 or less in assets after closing.
• You complete an approved homebuyer education course and live in the home for at least five years.

The money is limited: the city's plan for July 2026 to June 2027 budgets $50,000 for the fund, enough for about eight households, so ask the city's Community Development Department whether funds remain before you count on it.

Outside the city

We found no county-run down payment program taking applications in October 2026. Outside Grand Rapids, the county's Kent HOME Consortium, run with the City of Wyoming, funds nonprofit builders ICCF and LINC Up to build or renovate homes that are sold to households at or below 80% of the area median income.

Homebuyer education

Most of these programs require a homebuyer education course before closing. HUD lists three approved agencies in Kent County that teach one: ICCF Community Homes, MSU Extension's Kent County office and Telamon Corporation. MSHDA accepts a certificate from a HUD- or MSHDA-approved agency or from one of four online courses (Fannie Mae HomeView, Freddie Mac CreditSmart, eHome America and Framework), and the certificate is good for 12 months. If you are using more than one program, confirm that one course satisfies each of them before you book.

What happens to your property taxes after you buy?

Your bill is often higher than the seller's. Michigan caps how fast a home's taxable value can grow while one owner holds it, at inflation or 5% a year, whichever is less, and a sale lifts that cap: in the calendar year after you buy, the taxable value resets to the state equalized value under MCL 211.27a. A seller who owned the home for years can have a taxable value well below that, so the tax figure on a listing is a poor guide. The city's property tax estimator tells future owners to use the assessed value for exactly this reason, and we qualify you on the post-sale number rather than the one on the listing.

Three filings are yours to make:

• Principal Residence Exemption (Form 2368). It exempts your home from up to 18 mills of school operating tax, and you file it with the city or township assessor. Michigan has two deadlines, June 1 for the summer bill and November 1 for the winter bill (MCL 211.7cc), but in the City of Grand Rapids the school tax is on the summer bill, so June 1 is the one that counts there. Elsewhere in Kent County, ask your assessor which bill carries it. The seller's exemption runs only to December 31 of the year of the sale, so file your own soon after closing. If you miss a deadline, the assessor can grant it for the current year and the three before it.
• Property Transfer Affidavit (Form 2766). File it with the assessor within 45 days of closing. Filing late costs $5 a day, up to $200 on a home you live in, plus the taxes that would have been billed had it been filed on time (MCL 211.27b).
• A rental certificate, if you rent out part of a duplex. Grand Rapids requires a Certificate of Compliance for a rental unit before a tenant moves in. The exemption then covers only the part you live in: the city's example is 50% for one side of a duplex.

In Grand Rapids, summer tax bills go out the first week of July, carry most of the charges and are due July 31. Winter bills go out the first week of December, carry only county charges and are due February 14 (city treasurer). If your lender escrows, it pays both, but check your first statements to confirm the escrow and the exemption are set up. The county posts each year's certified rates for every city and township on its millage page.

What does it cost to close on a Grand Rapids home?

The main government charges are set by Michigan law: transfer tax and recording fees. The rest (lender, title, appraisal, and prepaid taxes and insurance) depends on the loan and the home. As a rough guide, closing costs typically run 2% to 5% of the loan amount, and your Loan Estimate lists every line.

• Transfer tax is $3.75 per $500 of price for the state and 55 cents per $500 for Kent County, together $8.60 per $1,000, or 0.86% (MCL 207.525, MCL 207.504). On a $250,000 home that is $2,150. By law the seller owes both, although a purchase agreement can shift the cost, and there is no transfer tax on your mortgage.
• Recording fees at the Kent County Register of Deeds are $30 per document, so $60 for a typical deed and mortgage, and a warranty deed also needs a $5 tax certification from the County Treasurer (county fee schedule).
• Water and sewer stay with the house. In Grand Rapids, unpaid water and sewer charges become a lien on the property, and the seller's final meter read is estimated unless someone sends a time-stamped meter photo or pays for an actual read. Your account is billed from that reading, so ask for a real final read. To open your account, bring photo ID and your deed, purchase agreement or settlement statement.

Is there a city income tax in Grand Rapids?

Yes. Living inside Grand Rapids city limits means a 1.5% city income tax for residents, against 0.75% for nonresidents who earn income in the city. Walker charges 1% for residents. They are the two Kent County cities on the state's list, so check whether a home is inside city limits rather than going by its mailing address, and count the tax when you compare monthly budgets between the city and the suburbs.

What do older Grand Rapids homes mean for the inspection and appraisal?

The median home in Grand Rapids was built in 1953, against 1977 for Kent County as a whole, and more than a third of city homes were built before 1940 (Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024). Age is not a problem in itself. It moves a few items to the top of the inspection list:

• Lead paint disclosure. For a home built before 1978, the seller must disclose any known lead paint, give you the EPA pamphlet and allow you 10 days for a lead inspection or risk assessment, which you can waive in writing (EPA).
• FHA appraisals. On a pre-1978 home, the FHA appraiser must note all defective paint (cracking, chipping, peeling or loose), inside and out, including porches, garages and sheds, and require it repaired under HUD's lead paint rules before closing (HUD Handbook 4000.1). The same appraisal checks that the roof has at least two years of life left, the heat can hold 50 degrees, there is no exposed wiring and the basement is dry.
• VA appraisals. VA presumes lead paint in any home built before 1978, requires defective paint to be fixed even when the repair is expensive, and has the VA appraiser certify the repair (VA Pamphlet 26-7, chapter 12).
• Conventional and renovation loans. A conventional appraisal is generally less strict about condition than an FHA one, which is one reason buyers of older homes compare the two. If you plan work after you buy, an FHA 203(k) finances the purchase and the repairs in one loan.
• Lead water lines. Many Grand Rapids service lines installed before 1950 are lead, and the city assumes lead for a pre-1950 home with no record otherwise. Look up any address on the city's lead service line map. The city plans to replace every lead line at no cost to the owner, on a schedule the state requires it to finish by 2041. If you want yours done sooner, the city replaces the public side and you pay for the private side, which can be spread over 10 years (city program).
• Help with lead hazards. The city's Lead Hazard Control program offers up to $20,000 to remove lead hazards from a pre-1978 home in the city when the owner lives there, meets an income limit, and has a child age five or under, or a pregnant person, in the home.
• Radon. EPA puts Kent County in Zone 2, moderate potential, but says its map should not decide whether an individual home needs testing, and Michigan has found elevated levels in every county. The Kent County Health Department gives out free test kits in January and sells them the rest of the year (616-632-6900).
• Historic districts. Grand Rapids has six local historic districts, Heritage Hill among them. Exterior work there, repairs and reroofing included, needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission before a building permit is issued. Staff reviews take a day or two, and Commission reviews two to four weeks or longer, so build that into a renovation timeline.

Comparing loans, and moving in

For the loans themselves, our guide to HomeReady, Home Possible and FHA compares the three that most first-time buyers choose between. Once you have the keys, our Kent County guide covers the rest of moving in: who supplies water, gas and electric, trash and recycling in the city, schools, and the sidewalk rule after a snowfall.

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