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USDA Guaranteed

The Single Family Housing Guaranteed programme. No down payment, but the map and the household income test decide it, not you.

Who it is for

A buyer of a modest home in an area USDA designates as rural, whose whole household income is at or below 115% of the area median.

Decided at

  • Day one
  • 0–3 yr
  • 3–7 yr
  • 7–15 yr
  • 15–30 yr

What separates it from its nearest neighbour: It is the only programme here where two hard external tests - a map and a household income ceiling - decide eligibility before anything about you is considered.

The published rules

These are programme rules, not Plinth policy. Where a figure is reset each year — conforming limits, FHA county limits, the USDA fee, the VA fee table — the mechanism is described and the number is not, because a stale number on a lending page is worse than no number.

Where
The property has to sit in an eligible area on USDA’s own eligibility map. "Rural" in this programme is a designation, not a description - a great many suburban edges qualify and a great many places that feel rural do not. Check the address, never the impression.
Household income
Adjusted household income must be at or below 115% of the area median income for that area. The test counts the income of adult household members, not only of the people on the loan. That catches applicants out more than any other rule in the programme.
Down payment
None required.
Fees
An upfront guarantee fee, currently 1% of the loan amount, and an annual fee, currently 0.35% of the average scheduled balance, collected monthly for the life of the loan. USDA sets both each fiscal year.
The home
A primary residence, of a size and type consistent with the programme. It is not for income-producing farm property.
A farmhouse with a metal roof at the end of a gravel road through open farmland, under a wide pale sky.
Rural is a designation on a map, not a description of a view. Check the street address, never the impression.

What it will not do

  • If the address fails the map, nothing else about the file matters.
  • The income ceiling counts the household, so a working adult child or a parent living with you can end the conversation.
  • The annual fee runs for the life of the loan, like FHA’s, so the same exit-by-refinance logic applies.

What to find out before you go further

  1. 01The exact street address against USDA’s eligibility map.
  2. 02The income limit for your county and household size.
  3. 03Everyone who will live in the home and what they earn.

No obligation, and no transmission

Ask about USDA Guaranteed

A broker needs six things to say anything useful. This form asks for exactly those and nothing else — no date of birth, no Social Security number, no credit pull.

This form does not send anything. It validates what you type and then stops. Nothing is stored, nothing is transmitted, no cookie is set and nobody will call you. The demonstration is the point — on a real build one function call inLeadForm.astro would hand this to a CRM.

(816) 555-0147