Walk through the 2024 Lafayette housing data and you’ll find three distinct price bands:

• Under $175k: 2-bed, 1-bath bungalows in Vinton or Heath neighborhoods; many need cosmetic updates but sit on 0.2-acre lots with mature trees.
• $175k–$250k: 3-bed ranch or Cape Cod homes in Highland Park or Boulder Run; most built 1970-2000, updated kitchens, 1-car garages, and walkable to Happy Hollow Elementary.
• $250k+: New construction or fully renovated historic homes in downtown Lafayette or riverside condos with Wabash views; expect quartz counters, 9-ft ceilings, and HOA amenities.

Inventory hovers around 1.8 months—technically a seller’s market—but bidding wars cool slightly in fall when Purdue students are settled. If you’re pre-approved through NMHL’s Express Underwrite, you can comfortably offer 98–99% of list price and still secure seller concessions for closing costs, something cash investors rarely receive.

Beyond Indiana’s statewide $15,000 First Time Home Buyer, Tippecanoe County quietly runs two hyper-local programs:

• Tippecanoe Down-Payment Bridge: 0% second mortgage up to $10,000, forgiven after five years of owner-occupancy; household income must be under 80% Area Median ($59,950 for a family of four).
• Lafayette HOME Program: $7,500 grant for homes within city limits; can be stacked with FHA 203(k) so you can roll rehab costs into the same low-rate loan.

NMHL pairs these with our 3% Conventional Grant (doesn’t have to be repaid) and a free 0.25% rate buy-down for teachers, nurses, and first responders. On a $190k purchase, the combined assistance can drop your cash-to-close to $2,100—cheaper than the security deposit on most Purdue rentals.

Indiana’s average effective property-tax rate of 0.87% ranks 8th lowest in the nation, but Lafayette’s unique township layers matter. In Tippecanoe County, you’ll pay:

• General rate: 0.5547 per $100 of assessed value
• Library fund: 0.0395
• School fund: 0.1949 (varies by district—Tecumseh is highest, Lafayette School Corp lowest)

On a $197k assessed home, that totals roughly $1,715 per year, or $143/month. Add homeowners insurance ($1,050/year for a brick ranch) and your escrow portion stays under $250—one reason mortgage payments here rival car notes in other states. NMHL’s loan officers run parcel-specific tax lookups before you view a house so your pre-approval payment is accurate to the penny.

FHA only requires 3.5% down and allows credit scores to 580, but the catch is the FHA county loan limit—Tippecanoe caps at $472,030 in 2024, far above Lafayette’s median. Neighborhoods where FHA buyers consistently win:

• Oxford Place: 3-bed ranches at $165k–$185k; sellers familiar with first-time buyers and willing to cover $5k in closing.
• River Ranch: Newer builds, but some inventory lingers 45+ days; list price negotiability 3–4%.
• Vinton Historic: Smaller square footage but character-rich; inspection items like porch paint are easy FHA fix-it items.

NMHL’s credit-services team can add you to Experian Boost and rapid-rescore utility data, often lifting your score 20 points in seven days—enough to drop your monthly PMI by $28 on a $180k loan.

With Purdue Research Park and a surrounding ag-tech corridor, Lafayette has a high percentage of 1099 and Schedule-F income that traditional underwriting undervalues. NMHL’s 12- or 24-month bank-statement program allows:

• Loan amounts to $1.25 million with 10% down
• Debt-to-income ratios to 50% with compensating factors
• Use of business statements with only 15% expense factor if you keep >25% company ownership

Last quarter we closed a $385k riverfront home for a crop-insurance consultant using 24 months of business statements at 6.625%—a full point lower than hard-money alternatives and with no prepayment penalty. Combine that with Indiana’s flat 3.23% state income tax and self-employed borrowers keep more monthly cash versus coastal states.

National Mortgage Home Loans funds more purchase loans in Tippecanoe County than any other non-bank lender, and we do it by keeping every step—from pre-approval to secondary-market delivery—inside our Purdue-area branch. That means:

• Same-day underwriting Monday–Saturday; you can submit an offer Sunday night and attach a conditional approval letter Monday morning.
• Local appraisal panel; we know which appraisers specialize in historic downtown doubles versus 40-acre farmettes near Stockwell.
• Down-payment-assistance concierge; we calendar county grant windows and auto-enroll you so paperwork is submitted the day funds release.
• Post-closing guarantee: if we can’t match or beat your locked rate by 0.25% within 30 days, we’ll credit $500 toward your first escrow shortage.

Whether you’re recovering from a short sale, buying your first condo on the Wabash, or scaling up to a $700k estate in West Lafayette, NMHL’s Lafayette team speaks local real estate—and we close on time, every time.