Jeff Merrill | Sioux Falls Realtor

That last part trips people up, so start here: you don’t fill out a form on a government website and wait. You get pre-approved with a lender who’s signed up to do SDHDA loans, and they run the assistance right alongside your mortgage. The whole thing moves as one file.

Let’s walk through what you actually get, whether you qualify at Sioux Falls prices, and how to use it without scaring off a seller.

What SDHDA actually offers — and what it costs you

The core program combines eligible mortgage financing with assistance options that are available through participating lenders. To count as a first-time buyer, you just need to have not owned your primary residence in the past three years. If you owned a home in 2021, sold it, and have rented since, you’re back in the pool.

The Down Payment Assistance piece is the part worth understanding. It’s 3% or 5% of your first mortgage amount, and it comes as a silent second mortgage — 0% interest, no monthly payment, and nothing due until you sell the home, refinance it, or pay the loan off. It isn’t a grant, so it doesn’t vanish, but it also isn’t costing you anything month to month.

The useful number is the assistance shown in the participating lender’s current written quote, not an old metro example.

• Assistance amount: determined by the current program option and loan quote.
• 3% assistance puts about $9,000 toward them.

For a lot of first-time buyers, that’s the entire gap between “we’re still saving” and “we’re at the closing table.” An FHA loan already lets you put down 3.5%, so pairing it with SDHDA assistance can get you into a home with very little of your own cash up front — which matters when you’re also covering an inspection, movers, and the first month in a new place.

Ask whether the current assistance is a gift, second loan or another structure; when repayment is due; whether a lien is recorded; and how it affects the first-mortgage rate and sale or refinance proceeds.

Do you qualify at Sioux Falls prices?

This is where a lot of national advice gets Sioux Falls buyers wrong. You’ll read that state programs cap out around $275,000, panic, and assume you’re priced out. That number is outdated.

Purchase-price and income limits change. Check the current official limits with South Dakota Housing and the participating lender.

There are two other boxes to check:

• Income limits. These apply and they vary by county and household size, so I won’t quote you a single number that might be stale by the time you read this. Minnehaha and Lincoln County limits are set by SDHDA and adjusted periodically. Your lender pulls the current figure for your household in about thirty seconds — ask them on the first call.
• Homebuyer education. SDHDA requires a homebuyer education course, offered online or in person through HUD-approved counseling agencies. It’s genuinely useful, and it’s a requirement, not a suggestion.

If your income lands over the limit, you’re not stuck. The Repeat Homebuyer Program and standard financing are still on the table, and there’s also the Governor’s House Program — affordable, energy-efficient two- and three-bedroom homes for income-qualified buyers — if you’re open to that path.

How to use it without losing the house

Getting the money is the easy part. Using it in a competitive offer is where a good agent earns their keep, because Sioux Falls is still a seller’s market — inventory’s down roughly 30% year over year, and well-priced homes move fast.

Start with the lender, not the listings. Get fully pre-approved on an SDHDA loan before you tour anything. When your pre-approval letter already reflects the assistance, your offer looks like any other financed offer to the seller — clean and ready. If you spring the program on everyone after you’re under contract, you risk delays that make a seller nervous.

Second, give yourself a little more time in the contract. SDHDA loans have a few extra moving parts than a plain conventional loan, so build a realistic closing timeline — a lender-confirmed timeline — into your offer instead of promising a two-week close you can’t hit. In this market, certainty is worth more to a seller than speed you can’t deliver.

Third, watch how you handle new construction. Builders in Tea and Harrisburg — Allen Homes, Van Buskirk, and others — sometimes push their own preferred lender with an incentive attached. That’s fine to compare, but their lender may not offer SDHDA assistance. Run both side by side. Sometimes the builder’s rate buydown beats the state assistance; sometimes the SDHDA route keeps thousands more in your pocket. If you’re weighing a brand-new home at all, my guide to using a Realtor on new construction in Sioux Falls walks through how representation and incentives actually work.

Finally, remember the local mechanics. In South Dakota, your closing happens at a title company, not through an escrow agent like some other states. You’ll review the Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Statement before you’re locked in. And your property taxes get folded into your monthly payment through escrow — worth budgeting for early, because they’re a real line item on a Sioux Falls home.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be a first-time buyer to get SDHDA down payment assistance?
For the First-Time Homebuyer Program, you need to have not owned your primary home in the past three years — so plenty of “second-time” buyers still qualify. If you’ve owned more recently, the Repeat Homebuyer Program offers competitive rates and its own assistance, with a higher the current published repeat-buyer limit purchase price cap.

Is the down payment assistance a grant I never pay back?
No. It’s a second mortgage at 0% interest with no monthly payment. You repay it when you sell, refinance, or pay off the home. You won’t feel it month to month, but it does come off your proceeds at closing when you eventually sell.

What’s the maximum price home I can buy with the program in Sioux Falls?
The First-Time Homebuyer Program caps the purchase price at the current published limit, which covers most homes in Harrisburg, Tea, Brandon, and Sioux Falls proper. The Repeat Homebuyer Program goes up to the current published repeat-buyer limit.

How do I actually apply?
You apply through an SDHDA-approved lender, not the state directly. Get pre-approved first, complete the required homebuyer education course, and your lender runs the assistance alongside your mortgage as one file. You can find participating lenders at sdhousing.org or by calling SDHDA at 605-773-3181.

Can I use SDHDA assistance on a new-construction home in Tea or Harrisburg?
Often, yes, as long as the home and your income fall within the limits. Just compare the SDHDA route against any builder’s preferred-lender incentive — they don’t always offer the same programs, and the math can go either way.

Ready to run your numbers?

If you’re renting in Sioux Falls and wondering whether you’re closer to buying than you think, the fastest way to find out is a fifteen-minute conversation. I’ll point you to an SDHDA-approved lender, we’ll check your price range against the program limits, and you’ll know where you actually stand — no pressure, no pitch.

Call or text me, Jeff Merrill, at 605-201-2846, or reach out through siouxfallsgreathomes.com. Let’s figure out your first move.

About Jeff Merrill: Jeff Merrill leads The Jeff Merrill Team, powered by eXp Realty, serving Sioux Falls and the surrounding South Dakota communities of Brandon, Harrisburg, Tea, Madison, Mitchell, Canistota, and beyond. Jeff brings a direct, no-nonsense approach to helping buyers, sellers, and new agents make confident moves in the Sioux Falls market.