Baltimore First-Time Home Buyer Programs: Every Grant and Incentive Available in 2026

Baltimore City has made aggressive moves to convert renters to homeowners, particularly in neighborhoods that have seen population loss or vacancy over the past generation. The result is a dense stack of overlapping programs — some widely publicized, some almost hidden — that can reduce your upfront costs to almost nothing if you know where to look.

Here's what's available in 2026, how each program works, and what they require from you.

Buying Into Baltimore

The most accessible city program for first-time buyers. Buying Into Baltimore awards a $5,000 forgivable loan to buyers who attend a Live Baltimore Trolley Tour event.

The tour is a structured event where prospective buyers ride through Baltimore neighborhoods and hear from locals about community life. There's no exam or lengthy application — you attend and you become eligible. But there are timing constraints that catch people off guard:

You cannot have a signed purchase contract before attending the tour. If you've already gone under contract on a Baltimore City property, you've disqualified yourself from this program. The tour is meant to be part of the shopping process, not a retroactive approval.

After attending the tour, you have exactly 12 business days to execute a ratified purchase contract and submit required paperwork to enter the program lottery. This is a tight window. Don't attend the tour unless you're ready to move on a property within two weeks.

The $5,000 loan forgives over five years — 20% per year — provided you maintain the property as your primary residence. If you sell or move within five years, the remaining balance is due at closing.

Check the Live Baltimore website for upcoming tour dates. Tours run regularly throughout the year and are typically held in the evening.

First-Time Homebuyers Incentive Program (FTHIP)

Administered by the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development, FTHIP provides:

• Up to 50% of the required down payment covered by the city
• Access to below-market interest rate mortgages through participating lenders
• Interest rate buydowns for buyers earning at or below 80% of Area Median Income

Income limits apply. The program targets buyers who earn at or below 80% of Baltimore City's AMI. At current AMI levels, that's roughly $75,000 for a single buyer and $107,000 for a household of four.

The FTHIP is less frequently discussed than Buying Into Baltimore because it requires more documentation and coordination with city-approved lenders. But for buyers at the lower end of the income spectrum, the 50% down payment contribution is substantially more valuable than the $5,000 Buying Into Baltimore grant.

Baltimore City Employee Homeownership Incentive

If you work for Baltimore City government as a permanent employee, the city provides a $5,000 five-year forgivable loan to help you purchase your first home within city limits. This is separate from the general Buying Into Baltimore program and can be used by city employees in addition to Buying Into Baltimore in some cases — confirm with the Baltimore City DHCD whether stacking is allowed in your transaction.

This program is designed to encourage city employees to live in the city where they work. It carries the same five-year primary residence requirement as the other forgivable loan programs.

Vacants to Value Booster

The Vacants to Value program addresses Baltimore's significant vacant property problem by incentivizing buyers to purchase and rehabilitate vacant buildings. The Booster component provides $10,000 in purchase assistance combined with an FHA 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage.

An FHA 203(k) is a standard FHA loan that rolls the purchase price and renovation costs into a single mortgage. The renovation funds are disbursed through an escrow account as work is completed. It requires a HUD-approved 203(k) consultant to oversee the project.

Who this is for: buyers who have some renovation tolerance and are interested in neighborhoods undergoing revitalization. The available properties skew toward the older housing stock — rowhouses from the early 20th century, often needing significant work.

The 203(k) loan has strict contractor requirements. You cannot DIY the work; all contractors must be licensed and the work scope must be pre-approved. The timeline from purchase to completion is typically longer than a standard transaction.

Baltimore Fixed Pricing Program

The most dramatic program on this list. Selected vacant city-owned buildings can be purchased for exactly $1 through the Fixed Pricing Program.

The catch is real: you must demonstrate at closing that you have at least $90,000 in liquid capital available to execute a complete gut rehabilitation of the property to current building codes. This is not a program for first-time buyers who are stretching to get into the market — it's for buyers with significant construction experience or capital who are prepared for a major renovation project.

The buildings are typically rowhouses in neighborhoods where the city has been unable to find conventional buyers. They require new roofing, new electrical and plumbing, HVAC, windows, structural repairs, and often environmental remediation (lead paint, asbestos). The $90,000 liquidity requirement is a floor, not a ceiling.

For buyers with the capital and renovation background, the economics are compelling. A $1 purchase price plus $90,000 in renovations can yield a fully renovated rowhouse in a revitalizing neighborhood at well below market value for a comparable finished product.

Stacking Baltimore City Programs with State Assistance

Baltimore City is treated as entirely a "Targeted Area" under the Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP), meaning:

• The three-year first-time buyer lookback can be waived for MMP in targeted areas (you may qualify even if you owned a home elsewhere in the last three years)
• Income limits for targeted areas in Baltimore City allow households up to $136,529 for 1–2 persons

City grants and MMP can be layered together. The typical combination for a Baltimore City first-time buyer looks like this:

1. MMP first mortgage (30-year fixed, state rate)
2. MMP $6,000 DPA second lien (no monthly payments, due at sale/refinance)
3. Buying Into Baltimore $5,000 (if you attended the tour before going under contract)
4. First-time buyer state transfer tax exemption (seller pays the 0.25% state tax)
5. Baltimore City $22,000 recordation and transfer tax exemption (for owner-occupied properties)

Together, these programs can cover a substantial portion of the upfront costs on a Baltimore City purchase priced under $300,000.

The Lead Paint Reality

Baltimore City has the highest concentration of pre-1978 housing stock in Maryland. The Maryland Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Act requires registration and compliance for any pre-1978 property used as a rental. If you're buying a multi-unit property and plan to live in one unit while renting others, the rental units must be registered with the Maryland Department of the Environment within 30 days of acquisition.

Even for pure owner-occupied purchases, lead paint disclosure requirements apply to all pre-1978 homes. You have a 10-day inspection window to test for lead-based paint hazards before your contract becomes fully binding. Given the age of Baltimore's housing stock, serious buyers should use this window.

Ground Rent in Baltimore City

Roughly 25–40% of Baltimore City properties carry ground rent — a colonial-era arrangement where you own the house but lease the land beneath it. Before making an offer on any Baltimore City property, search the SDAT Ground Rent Registry at sdat.dat.maryland.gov to determine whether the property has a registered ground lease.

If a ground lease exists and is registered, you have a statutory right to redeem (buy out) the land using Maryland's capitalization formula. Most Baltimore ground rents run $60–$150 per year, and redemption costs typically range from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on the lease date.

VA loans generally cannot be used on properties subject to ground leases without prior redemption. If you're using VA financing in Baltimore, redeeming the ground rent before closing is often necessary.

The Maryland First-Time Home Buyer Guide walks through the complete Baltimore buying process, including how to search for ground rent, how to invoke the city's $22,000 recordation exemption, and how to stack the available incentive programs in a single closing.

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