Cornerstone First Mortgage · Mike Certo NMLS #260555
Oklahoma-licensed lending from the OKC and Tulsa metros out to the rural counties. Straight answers on OHFA down payment assistance, including how the 3.5% Silent Second actually reads and why it is repaid rather than a grant, plus zero-down USDA across rural Oklahoma and the seller-paid documentary stamp tax. A Cornerstone branch manager who works the file himself instead of handing it to a call center.
OHFA anchors the first-time and assistance side with its Gold and Dream tracks. Around them sit the standard loan types and a few niche paths. Here is the menu.
3.5% of the loan amount toward down payment and closing costs. Gold is for first-time buyers unless you buy in a targeted area; Dream drops the first-time rule. The help is a Silent Second, a 0% lien you repay when you sell, refinance, pay off, or move out. It is not a grant.
FHA from 3.5% down, VA at zero down for Oklahoma veterans near Fort Sill and Tinker AFB, and USDA at zero down across rural Oklahoma. OHFA help can layer on these.
Conventional from 3% down, and jumbo above the $832,750 conforming limit that applies in every Oklahoma county. No high-cost county exception statewide.
Bank-statement and 1099 loans for Oklahoma business owners whose tax returns understate their real income, qualified on deposits rather than the net after write-offs.
DSCR loans for rentals, including ratios below 1.0, and bridge financing so you can buy the next home before selling the current one.
Most Oklahoma buyers who search for down payment help land on a national aggregator that sells the lead three times before anyone calls back. That is not us. Mike Certo is a branch manager with Cornerstone First Mortgage who works Oklahoma files himself, and he will tell you straight which path fits: an OHFA loan when its terms and price caps line up with your county, a plain FHA or conventional when the assistance adds nothing. He closes these across metro Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, and the rural counties, and he knows the parts that trip Oklahoma buyers up, how the OHFA Silent Second is repaid when you sell or refinance, the documentary stamp the seller customarily pays, and where USDA still reaches in the countryside.
Self-employed income, jumbo with student debt, DSCR investor loans below a 1.0 ratio, buy-before-you-sell bridge financing, doctors still in residency. These are the files that stall at a call-center lender and close with Mike. If your situation has a wrinkle, that is the reason to call, not a reason to wait.
Both are OHFA down payment programs that give 3.5% of the loan amount as a Silent Second, and both look for a 640 score. The difference is who qualifies. Gold requires first-time-buyer status unless you are buying in a targeted area. Dream has no first-time requirement, so a repeat buyer can use it. Mike checks your county caps and income against both tracks on your actual numbers.
No. OHFA's 3.5% is a Silent Second, not a grant. It is a second mortgage recorded as a lien on your home at 0% interest, with no fees and no monthly payment. You repay it when you pay off the first mortgage or it reaches maturity, when you refinance, or when you leave the home as your primary residence or change ownership. It is not forgiven after a set number of years. Oklahoma has no statewide down payment grant we offer, so plan on repaying the Silent Second.
No statewide grant that we offer. The statewide OHFA assistance is a repayable Silent Second, a 0% lien with no monthly payment that you repay when you sell, refinance, pay off the first mortgage, or move out. Many national sites wrongly call it a grant. It is deferred help, not free money, so read the OHFA terms and plan on repaying the second before you count on it.
The seller, customarily. Oklahoma charges a documentary stamp tax of $0.75 per $500 of price, which works out to $1.50 per $1,000, or 0.15%, and the seller customarily pays it as the grantor. On a $261,681 home that is about $393. For a buyer, the documentary stamp is not part of your cash to close, though you will still see flat county recording fees.
Yes. Outside the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro cores, much of Oklahoma qualifies, including small towns and farm country. USDA asks for no down payment. Eligibility is address-specific and income-capped, roughly $112,450 to $119,850 for a one-to-four-person household as a 2026 range, so confirm your exact address and the current county limit at USDA's eligibility tool.
