Down Payment Help for Colorado Military Home Buyers

A service member buying a home in Colorado has three routes to a purchase with little or no cash at closing: the VA loan (zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance), down payment assistance from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), and closing-cost help from nonprofit programs such as the Military Housing Assistance Fund. This guide explains what each one does, what it costs, and how the numbers work at Fort Carson, Peterson, Schriever, Buckley and the Air Force Academy.

The Kenna Real Estate Group closes VA purchases across the Front Range, from Colorado Springs and Fountain to Aurora, Parker and Denver. The advice below is the same advice the group gives a buyer with orders in hand.

What is the Military Housing Assistance Fund?

The Military Housing Assistance Fund (MHAF) is one nonprofit program that describes itself as helping active-duty members, veterans and surviving spouses with closing costs on a home purchase. It is not a government program, it is not run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it has no connection to the Kenna Real Estate Group. Its help is structured as a gift toward closing costs, arranged through lenders and agents that work with the fund.

Treat it the way you treat any third-party program: verify it directly with the fund before you count on a dollar. Confirm four things in writing:

• Who qualifies: the fund requires proof of service. Guides to checking military status list the documents that establish it: a DD-214, a current Leave and Earnings Statement, or a VA benefits letter.
• What the gift covers: closing costs and prepaid items. It does not replace the down payment on a conventional loan.
• What it costs the buyer: ask the lender for a Loan Estimate with the program and one without it. A closing-cost gift paired with a higher interest rate is a trade, not free money. On a $450,000 loan, an extra 0.25% in rate costs about $70 a month, or $25,000 over 30 years.
• When the funds arrive: the title company needs the gift documented on the settlement statement before closing day, not after.

The VA loan: zero down, no PMI, one funding fee

The VA home loan is the strongest purchase tool a Colorado service member has. The Department of Veterans Affairs backs part of the loan, and a private lender funds it. The terms that matter on a Front Range purchase:

• Zero down payment. A $500,000 home in Aurora or Colorado Springs closes with no down payment. The buyer still pays closing costs and prepaid taxes and insurance, and those are the costs CHFA, the seller or a nonprofit gift cover.
• No monthly mortgage insurance. FHA charges upfront and monthly mortgage insurance; conventional loans under 20% down charge PMI. VA charges neither. On a $500,000 loan that is $150 to $400 a month that never leaves the budget.
• One VA funding fee. The fee is a percentage of the loan amount, lower on a first use and higher on later uses, and lower again with 5% or 10% down. It is paid once at closing and most buyers roll it into the loan. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, Purple Heart recipients on active duty and eligible surviving spouses are exempt. The current percentages are on va.gov; the lender confirms the exact figure on the Loan Estimate.
• No loan limit with full entitlement. A buyer who has never used the benefit, or who has paid off a prior VA loan and restored entitlement, has no VA-imposed cap. The lender's income and credit review sets the ceiling.
• Seller concessions up to 4%. VA rules let the seller pay all of the buyer's ordinary closing costs plus up to 4% of the price in additional concessions such as prepaid taxes or the funding fee.
• Occupancy. The buyer or spouse occupies the home within 60 days of closing. A spouse satisfies the requirement during a deployment, and the lender documents any longer timeline.

The group's lender partner is Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender. He prices VA loans on Front Range homes daily and pulls the Certificate of Eligibility through the VA portal in the first call. You are free to use any lender. Start with the Colorado home financing guide and the government-backed home buying guide.

CHFA: Colorado's own down payment and closing-cost help

CHFA, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, pairs its first mortgages with down payment and closing-cost assistance delivered as a grant or as a second mortgage. Three things a military buyer needs to know:

• It stacks with VA and FHA. A CHFA-participating lender writes the VA first mortgage and layers the CHFA assistance on top to cover closing costs. Mike Oswald's office is CHFA-participating.
• Income limits and a class apply. CHFA sets a maximum household income by county, a minimum credit score, and requires a homebuyer education class before closing. The current limits and assistance amounts change, so confirm them on CHFA's site or with the lender rather than a blog post.
• The second-mortgage version is repaid. The grant version is not repaid. The second-mortgage version is due when the home sells or refinances, which matters on a three-year PCS cycle. Ask which version you are getting.

Every Colorado program, with the amounts and the qualifying rules, is on first-time home buyer programs in Colorado. A VA buyer who has owned before still qualifies for many of them, because CHFA's first-time rule has exceptions for veterans and for targeted areas.

BAH is a budget line, not a bonus

Basic Allowance for Housing is a monthly, tax-free allowance set by rank, dependency status and the ZIP code of the duty station. Lenders count it as qualifying income. The group tells buyers to build the payment around it in three steps:

1. Pull the current BAH for your rank and duty ZIP from the Defense Travel Management Office calculator.
2. Subtract HOA dues and, in newer subdivisions, the metro district portion of the property tax bill. Both are easy to miss on a listing.
3. Set the price so principal, interest, taxes and insurance fit inside the remainder. Colorado insurance runs high because of hail; budget $2,000 to $4,000 a year on a $500,000 home.

A payment that fits inside BAH keeps the home rentable at a positive number when the next orders come. Colorado Springs and Aurora both have deep rental demand from the bases, which is why many service members keep the first Colorado home as a rental after a PCS.

What homes cost near each Colorado installation

Price bands below are closed-sale ranges for detached homes in 2026, given as ranges so they stay honest as the market moves. Condos and townhomes run $100,000 to $200,000 lower in each area.

Search the current inventory on explore Colorado Springs and explore Aurora, or set a saved search by base commute on every home for sale in Colorado.

How the three tools combine on one Colorado purchase

A worked example the group sees every month. A staff sergeant with orders to Peterson buys a $475,000 home in Stetson Hills:

• VA loan: $0 down. Loan amount $475,000 plus the funding fee rolled in.
• Closing costs and prepaids: about 2% to 3% of price, so $9,500 to $14,000, covered by a 2% seller concession negotiated on a home with 30 days on market and the rest by CHFA assistance or a verified nonprofit gift.
• Cash to close: earnest money of $5,000, returned at closing, plus the inspection ($400 to $600), radon test ($150), sewer scope ($150 to $300) and the appraisal fee.

The full cost list, line by line, is on closing costs for Colorado home buyers. The step-by-step loan path is on the VA loan process in Colorado.

Buying before you arrive on orders

Most military buyers the group works with go under contract from out of state. A VA lender pre-approves on a copy of orders and the LES; the group runs live video showings, orders the inspection and the VA appraisal, and the title company sets up a mail-away or remote online notarization closing, which Colorado law permits. The 60-to-90-day timeline from orders to keys is in the military home buyer: from PCS orders to moving day, and the buyer's side of every step is on how the group helps buyers and the Colorado home buyer's guide.

Where to go next

• Buy a home in Colorado with no money down using a VA loan
• Step-by-step VA loan process in Colorado
• Government-backed home buying guide
• Homes for sale in Colorado Springs
• Colorado relocation services
• Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC writes VA offers that sellers accept, verifies every assistance program before it goes on the settlement statement, and runs the purchase remotely when the buyer is still at the last duty station. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Or start now and search every home for sale in Colorado.