Arkansas down payment assistance · Cornerstone First Mortgage · NMLS #173855 Call Mike Certo · (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com
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Why This Site Leads With the Payment

Program and regulatory figures verified October 6, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.

By Mike Certo, Cornerstone First Mortgage · NMLS #260555 ·

Arkansas assistance is structured differently from most states, and the difference lands on your monthly budget. That belongs at the top of a page, not in a footnote.

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Who writes this

Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone is NMLS #173855, an Equal Housing Lender. We originate ADFA loans and lend across Arkansas statewide.

Reach us on (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.

★ Why the first thing we say is about your budget

Because ADFA's structure is unusual and the consequence is monthly. Their own sentence: "a second mortgage, matching the first mortgage, with a 10-year term." Matching the rate, amortising over ten years — it carries a payment.

A buyer who has read about assistance in a silent-second state, or been told how it worked for a friend in Oklahoma, will budget for the wrong number. We would rather lead with that than let it surface at underwriting. The detail.

★ And why we give the veteran exemption its own page

ADFA publishes, in its StartSmart eligibility text, that veterans and spouses of veterans with proper documentation do not have to be first-time homebuyers.

It is one sentence, well down a long page, and it is the difference between a repeat-buyer veteran accessing bond-rate financing or not. It deserves more than a line. The page.

How figures get on this site

  • Primary sources, with dates. Programme terms read off ADFA's own pages on 2026-10-06; income limits from ADFA's StartSmart schedule effective 06/01/2026.
  • Verified four ways. The 75-county table was extracted per word (ADFA's text layer returns the columns out of order, so a naive read mis-assigns every figure), rendered to an image and read back, cross-checked against ADFA's separately published list of thirty targeted counties — which matched name for name — and arithmetic-tested on every row.
  • Cite or omit. ADFA publishes no homebuyer education requirement on StartSmart, so we claim neither that one exists nor that none does. We have not published a figure for the Move-Up conforming price cap because ADFA states the rule rather than the number.
  • No rates. ADFA's "approximately 1% below market" is published as their characterisation of the programme, never as a rate we are quoting you.

What we do not do

We are lenders. We do not give tax or legal guidance. We will tell you what your file supports, which ADFA programme fits, and honestly whether the assistance is the right tool for your situation — including when it is not. Send a scenario.

Frequently asked questions

Who runs this Arkansas down payment assistance site?

Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone is NMLS #173855, an Equal Housing Lender, and we lend across Arkansas statewide.

Why does this site emphasise the monthly payment?

Because ADFA's assistance is structured as a second mortgage matching the first mortgage over a ten-year term, so it amortises and carries a payment. Buyers who have read about assistance in states that use silent or forgivable seconds will budget for the wrong number.

How were the Arkansas income limits verified?

Four ways: extracted per word with column positions mapped because ADFA's text layer returns columns out of order, rendered to an image and read back to rule out digit shift, cross-checked against ADFA's separately published list of thirty targeted counties which matched name for name, and arithmetic-tested on every row.

Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not tax or legal guidance. ADFA program terms, income limits and purchase price limits are set by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority and change; figures here carry the date we verified them against ADFA's published documents. ADFA down payment assistance is a second mortgage matching the first mortgage over a 10-year term, which means it carries a monthly payment; it is not a grant. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.