Explore USDA loans with $0 down in eligible rural and suburban areas. Income limits, guarantee fees, and purchase or refinance with Shelton Mortgage Team.
Neil Shelton, Mortgage Loan Originator
Shelton Mortgage Team powered by Edge Home Finance, LLC
Shelton Mortgage Team powered by Edge Home Finance, LLC | Neil Shelton, NMLS 1668076 Company NMLS 891464 | Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. All loans subject to credit, underwriting approval, and lender requirements. Terms, conditions, and programs may change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit. Equal Housing Opportunity.
USDA Loans: $0 Down, Rural & Suburban Homes
Explore USDA loans with $0 down in eligible rural and suburban areas. Income limits, guarantee fees, and purchase or refinance with Shelton Mortgage Team.
USDA Loans
USDA loans are more available than you think.
What is a USDA loan?
USDA purchase loans
USDA refinance loans
How much do you need to put down on a USDA loan?
What 0% down actually requires
Rural and suburban buyers within the income table
What credit score do you need for a USDA loan?
What actually gets reviewed
USDA loan requirements
Does a USDA loan require a guarantee fee?
Purchase or refinance? We help with both.
Buying a home
Streamlined-Assist
Guaranteed refinance
Property types & occupancy
USDA income limits & practical loan size
Seller contributions, gift funds, and closing costs
Who USDA financing may be a good fit for
When another loan program may be better
USDA vs. Conventional
Why work with Shelton Mortgage Team
Let’s Compare Your Options
USDA loan questions, answered.
Built for eligible rural and suburban communities. Explore USDA financing for purchases and refinances — including $0 down when the map, the income, and the file support it.
Eligibility, rates, and program availability vary by borrower, household income, property location, occupancy, lender overlays, and underwriting findings. Not every option applies to every file.
A lot of what people “know” about USDA is leftover from an older conversation. Farms only. Dirt roads. Poverty wages. That version of USDA still shows up in living rooms — and it is incomplete.
A USDA mortgage is a home loan guaranteed by USDA Rural Development. The government does not typically lend you the money. A participating lender does. The guaranty is what allows many of those lenders to accept no down payment on a modest, owner-occupied home in an eligible area — a structure conventional cannot match without PMI, and FHA cannot match at 0% down.
USDA does not automatically mean a farm, a free ride on credit, or a slower closing. Those are stereotypes. The product is a geography-and-income benefit — useful when the map and the household fit, expensive to leave unused when they do.
The standard USDA guaranteed purchase is the program most buyers mean when they say “USDA loan.” Eligible owner-occupied homes in eligible areas can often be financed with 0% down. Underwriting still looks at credit, household income, debts, and the property.
USDA also supports a Streamlined-Assist refinance for existing USDA borrowers and a more fully underwritten guaranteed refinance. The question is never “can USDA refinance” — it is whether staying in USDA, or moving to another structure, produces the better long-term cost.
Eligible USDA purchase financing can be available with 0% down when the property, occupancy, and household income support it. That is the figure most people have heard — and it is still how many USDA purchases are structured in 2026.
Zero down is not zero cash. Closing costs, prepaid items, and any repairs still have to be funded. Seller credits and gift funds can fill part of that gap when guidelines allow. Putting money down is a choice, not a USDA requirement.
No down payment is only one piece. You still need funds for closing costs, prepaid items, and any repairs the appraisal flags. Seller credits and gift funds can fill part of that gap when guidelines allow:
Think USDA is only for people who cannot put anything down? Not necessarily.
Some borrowers choose USDA because the monthly structure competes with FHA MIP and conventional PMI — even when they could write a larger check. The down payment is not the whole story.
USDA financing is a benefit tied to location and household income, not a first-time-buyer nickname. Buyers who will occupy a modest home in an eligible area — including many suburbs — can all be candidates when the income test clears.
The two documents that decide it early are the USDA eligibility map for the address and the household income limit for the county. We run both before you write an offer. Household size, overtime, and whose income counts still have to fit the published rules.
You also do not have to use USDA just because you can. Eligible conventional, FHA, and VA programs exist. The useful question is which structure costs less and qualifies more cleanly — not which nickname sounds like it was designed for a country road.
USDA does not publish a poster minimum. GUS and lender overlays still decide.
The number most people quote — 640 — comes from how automated underwriting often behaves, not a USDA scoreboard nailed to the wall. GUS evaluates the pattern: payment history, debts, income stability, and the property. Manual underwriting can still be a path with compensating factors.
It does not mean anyone at 620 will close. It does not mean a 740 file should skip USDA. A lower score can still affect pricing, overlays, and whether the file receives an acceptable finding.
USDA can be more flexible. It is not indifferent.
If you have been told you “need FHA” because the house is outside the city, it is worth a second look at the actual map — including whether USDA would price better once income and GUS are in the system.
USDA requirements are a stack of findings, not a poster on the wall. Location, household income, occupancy, the property’s condition, and lender overlays all interact. What follows is how we explain that stack to real people — without pretending every file is judged the same way.
Most USDA guaranteed loans include a one-time upfront guarantee fee — commonly 1.00% of the loan amount — and an annual fee, commonly 0.35% of the outstanding principal. There is no conventional PMI. The upfront fee is often financed into the loan. The annual fee is collected through the monthly payment.
That annual fee is one reason we always put USDA next to FHA MIP and conventional PMI. On some files USDA still wins the monthly. On others, cancellable PMI or a VA funding-fee exemption is the cleaner structure.
The guarantee fee is not automatically a reason to avoid USDA, and it is not automatically worse than FHA MIP. The comparison is the total cost over the years you actually expect to keep the mortgage — including 0% down when that is the cash you have.
The goal isn’t simply to avoid a fee. The goal is to find the mortgage structure with the best overall financial outcome.
USDA home financing is not a purchase-only product. Shelton Mortgage Team structures USDA loans for buying and for refinancing. A refinance should be judged against your full picture — payment, remaining fees, cash needed, how long you will keep the loan — not the interest rate in isolation.
USDA purchase loans can serve first-time buyers and repeat buyers in eligible rural and suburban areas — when income, occupancy, and the property meet USDA guidelines and lender overlays.
A Streamlined-Assist refinance is designed for existing USDA borrowers when the payment improves, with less documentation than a full refinance. It is not a cash-out tool.
A fully underwritten USDA guaranteed refinance can be the path when Streamlined-Assist does not fit — still subject to occupancy, income, and lender overlays.
Eligible USDA financing typically covers modest single-family homes — and, when guidelines allow, certain condos and manufactured homes — in an eligible area that you occupy as your primary residence. Occupancy is not optional on a USDA purchase. That is the line between this program and conventional.
USDA guaranteed loans are not capped by a national maximum loan amount the way conventional conforming loans are. What caps the file is household income, repayment ability, the property, and lender overlays. If the price is high relative to local incomes, USDA may not be the structure even when the map is green.
Common moderate-income limit as a share of area median income, adjusted for household size and county. We use the published table for your address — not a national average.
2026 FHFA conforming limit in most counties — a conventional number, shown here so you can see when jumbo or another structure may enter the conversation instead of USDA.
We will check the eligibility map and the income table before you write the offer — and compare FHA, conventional, or VA if the numbers need it.
USDA loans can allow the seller to contribute toward the buyer’s closing costs — commonly up to 6% of the sales price, subject to current USDA and lender rules. Gift funds from an eligible donor can help with remaining cash to close. That distinction matters in negotiations.
This is the current general USDA guaranteed framework and can differ by case, occupancy, and lender overlays. Limits are a ceiling, not a promise the seller will contribute.
A USDA loan may be worth a serious look if any of the following sounds like you. None of this is a guarantee of approval.
USDA is not automatically available — and it is not automatically best on every file. Conventional is the path for a second home or investment property, or when household income is over the USDA table. FHA can be the cleaner approval when the map is ineligible. VA is often the stronger structure for eligible veterans. Jumbo is simply the tool when a non-USDA structure is needed above conforming limits.
The goal isn’t to put you into a USDA loan. The goal is to find the financing strategy that makes the most sense for you.
This is the comparison eligible borrowers ask for most. Neither column wins in every file. Monthly cost often comes down to the USDA annual fee versus PMI — and whether the address and household income fit.
Neil Shelton and the Shelton Mortgage Team educate first, then compare. We have access to 160+ wholesale lenders, which means a USDA purchase or refinance is one option on the table — next to conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo, and other structures — not the only product we know how to spell.
You don’t need to know which loan you need before you call us. That’s our job.
We will not promise guaranteed approval, the lowest rate in America, or savings we have not measured. We will put the options in plain language and help you choose on purpose. The team can assist in 49 states.
You don’t have to figure out which mortgage program is right for you on your own. We’ll compare USDA with the available alternatives and help you understand the numbers before you make a decision.
Neil Shelton, NMLS 1668076 | Edge Home Finance, NMLS 891464. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Information on this page is for general education and is not a commitment to lend. Approval, rates, terms, program availability, down payment options, credit evaluation, guarantee fees, seller contributions, income limits, property eligibility, and occupancy rules are subject to underwriting, lender guidelines, USDA Rural Development guidelines, automated or manual underwriting findings, and market conditions. Guidelines can differ between USDA Rural Development, participating lenders, and individual wholesale overlays. USDA is a government guaranty program and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this website beyond the educational description of available loan types.
Personalized mortgage guidance for buyers, sellers, and refinancers — with a team ready to help across 49 states.
Elegant suburban house with decorative plants and paved driveway.
A rustic house in the countryside surrounded by a lush garden on a calm summer day.
Neil Shelton, Mortgage Loan Originator with Shelton Mortgage Team