ADFA Move-Up Loan Program

Pairing the ADFA Move-Up first mortgage with the maximum $15,000 from ADFA's Down Payment Assistance Program leaves room to spare on a $247,000 Little Rock home. With FHA financing, the 3.5% minimum down payment is $8,645, so the DPA pays all of it and still has $6,355 to apply toward closing costs.

Closing costs on a Little Rock purchase usually land between $5,000 and $7,500. The $6,355 left over from the DPA brings the buyer's own share down to roughly $0 to $1,145. In many cases, the $15,000 DPA could cover your entire down payment and all closing costs on a median-priced Little Rock home.

If you also qualify for the Arkansas Dream Down Payment Initiative (ADDI), you could add up to $10,000 (10% of the sale price) as a forgivable loan on top of the ADFA DPA for a combined $25,000 in assistance. That combination would fully cover down payment and closing costs with money to spare for prepaid expenses like homeowners insurance and property tax escrow.

The ADFA Move-Up Loan Program is designed to pair directly with the ADFA Down Payment Assistance Program, which provides $1,000 to $15,000 as a 10-year second mortgage. The DPA is only available to borrowers who use either a Move-Up or StartSmart first mortgage, so the two programs are built to work together. Your lender processes both loans simultaneously.

ADFA also allows additional assistance from other programs, agencies, and gifts on top of the DPA. This means you could potentially combine the Move-Up first mortgage and DPA second mortgage with the Arkansas Dream Down Payment Initiative (ADDI), which offers up to 10% of the sale price (maximum $10,000) as a forgivable loan. However, your total debt-to-income ratio including the DPA payment cannot exceed 45%, which may limit how much combined assistance you can receive on a given purchase.

The Move-Up program cannot be combined with the ADFA StartSmart program because both are first mortgage products. You choose one or the other based on your eligibility. First-time buyers who qualify for StartSmart's lower income limits will generally get a better interest rate through StartSmart, while repeat buyers or higher-income borrowers should use Move-Up.

The biggest advantage of the ADFA Move-Up Loan Program is accessibility. Because it has no first-time homebuyer requirement and a relatively high income limit of $142,000, it opens ADFA's Down Payment Assistance ($1,000 to $15,000) to repeat buyers who would otherwise have no access to state-level down payment help. The 30-year fixed rate with no prepayment penalty provides predictable payments, and ADFA allows additional assistance from other programs and gifts on top of the DPA, so buyers can layer multiple sources of help.

The main trade-off compared to ADFA StartSmart is the interest rate. StartSmart offers a below-market rate approximately 1% lower than standard rates, which can save thousands over the life of the loan. Move-Up's rate is competitive but not guaranteed to be below market. First-time buyers who meet StartSmart's income limits should generally choose StartSmart for the better rate. Move-Up is the stronger option for repeat buyers, buyers whose income exceeds StartSmart's county-based limits, or buyers who do not want to complete the homebuyer education course that StartSmart requires.