Buying a first home can be both exciting and overwhelming.

The Federal Government and each state offers a different number of programs and varying levels of assistance. Each state defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has never owned a home, or someone who has not owned a home in the past three years.

If programs do have a first-time-buyer requirement, that restriction is almost always waived for qualifying veterans or someone buying a home in a state-designated “target area.”

To qualify for one of these statewide home buyer programs, which can offer anything from below-market mortgage rates to down-payment assistance to special programs for police or firefighters, borrowers must almost always attend a homebuyer education course. Statewide assistance programs must be acquired through a participating lender.