Step one: find out which programs you could use
Texas runs assistance through two statewide bodies — TDHCA, whose programs sit under The Texas Homebuyer Program, and TSAHC, which runs Homes for Texas Heroes and the Home Sweet Texas Home Loan Program. The City of Houston and Harris County run their own on top of that. Each publishes its own current terms, and the limits move: TDHCA’s combined limits table carries an effective date, and the one current as of 26 August 2026 took effect on 13 July 2026.
The point of this step is not to apply. It is to learn which of the possible routes are open to you, because that shapes everything after it.
Step two: check the boundary before you check the price
This is the Texas-specific one, and it costs people more houses than any income limit. The City of Houston’s Homebuyer Assistance Program applies to a property that pays taxes to the City of Houston. The Harris County Down Payment Assistance Program applies to properties in unincorporated Harris County. They do not overlap.
A house that looks like it is “in Houston” on a listing may be in an unincorporated pocket, or inside another city entirely. Establish which program a given address could use before you get attached to it.
Step three: understand the structure, not just the amount
Assistance can be structured as a second lien or as help that is forgiven. TSAHC, for instance, lets you take its assistance as a grant that does not have to be repaid, or as a deferred forgivable second lien that only has to be repaid if you sell or refinance within three years (TSAHC, page checked 26 August 2026).
Ask which structure you are being offered and what happens in each scenario. A larger amount with a structure that does not suit your plans is not the better deal.
And then: get properly pre-approved before you look
An offer using assistance is scrutinized more closely by listing agents, and fairly so — they have seen assistance-backed offers fall apart. The way you counter that is to arrive with a genuine pre-approval and a lender the listing agent can actually reach.
That is the part I can help with directly. The application, pricing and disclosures are handled by All Western Mortgage; my job is to make sure your file is ready and that your agent has what they need to present the offer with confidence.