Tampa Mortgages: Refinancing and Buying Inside City Limits

Tampa has about 414,000 people inside city limits, and roughly half of its households own their home. The city’s own down payment program has closed hundreds of homes since 2019.

We start with refinancing, because a lot of Tampa owners have built equity. After that come the city’s Dare to Own the Dream program and its CRA version, MacDill and VA buyers, the stormwater charges on your tax bill, and six neighborhoods worth knowing.

Every source for this page is listed at the bottom.

  • CountyHillsborough
  • PopulationAbout 414,000
  • City buyer programDare to Own the Dream
  • FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
  • CRA areasEight, citywide
  • MilitaryMacDill Air Force Base
  • Historic reviewARC and Barrio Latino Commission
  • Homestead filingHillsborough County Property Appraiser

Refinancing a Tampa home

If you bought in Tampa years ago, you may be sitting on equity you’ve never touched. Here’s how the main refinance options work.

Cash-out refinance

A cash-out refinance replaces your current mortgage with a bigger one, and you take the difference in cash. Owners use it for roofs and windows that insurers ask about, for additions, or to pay off credit cards and car loans. We run the new payment against what you pay today, debts included.

FHA refinance

If you have an FHA loan now, an FHA streamline can lower the rate with less paperwork, and an FHA cash-out lets you tap equity with more flexible credit standards than most Conventional programs.

VA refinance

Veterans with a VA loan can use a VA streamline to lower the rate, or a VA cash-out to pull equity, which matters in a city with MacDill in it.

Self-employed owners

If your returns understate your income, a bank statement refinance uses your deposits instead.

After we look at your numbers together, we’ll show you exactly what a refinance does to your monthly payment.

Tampa’s Dare to Own the Dream program

The City of Tampa’s Housing and Community Development office runs Dare to Own the Dream. The help comes as a 0% second mortgage with no monthly payment, sitting behind your first mortgage, and it’s fully forgiven after 20 years as long as you live in the home.

  • It’s for first-time buyers, with household income up to 140% of the area median. The amount steps down as income goes up.
  • The program sets its own minimum credit score and maximum debt ratio, and limits how much cash you can have in the bank.
  • You start with a city-approved housing counseling agency and get a reservation number before you go under contract. Sign a contract before you have that number and you can lose the assistance.
  • The house has to pass a City housing quality inspection before closing, on top of your own home inspection.
  • FHA, VA and Conventional first mortgages all qualify, but adjustable rates don’t.
  • Buyers have to use a lender on the city’s approved list.

The citywide version has a purchase price cap. A separate CRA version drops the price cap, but only for homes inside Tampa’s community redevelopment areas: East Tampa, Ybor City, West Tampa, Drew Park, the Channel District, Central Park, Tampa Heights and the Riverfront.

Dare to Own the Dream comes with several steps of its own. Our FHA 100% option, or Hometown Heroes when the state has it funded, can get some buyers in with fewer of them, and we’ll lay those options next to the city program for you. Hillsborough County’s programs are on our Hillsborough County guide.

MacDill Air Force Base and VA buyers

MacDill sits at the south tip of the Interbay peninsula and is home to U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command and the 6th Air Mobility Wing, with dozens of other mission partners. That puts a large number of active-duty members, veterans and military families in the Tampa market at any given time.

A VA loan lets an eligible service member or veteran buy with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance, and the seller can pay closing costs. Moving to Tampa on orders, or getting out of the service there? We pull your Certificate of Eligibility as part of the pre-approval.

Tampa neighborhoods

Hyde Park

Hyde Park took shape in the 1880s after Henry Plant built the Lafayette Street bridge, with the first house going up in 1882 on Morrison Avenue. Bayshore Boulevard forms part of its edge.

Seminole Heights

Seminole Heights is known for its early 20th-century Craftsman bungalows. It holds a locally designated historic district, and the city has a flood relief project under way in southeast Seminole Heights.

Tampa Heights

Tampa Heights was the city’s first suburb, from the 1880s. Armature Works, a 1910 streetcar warehouse, now anchors the Riverwalk at its edge, and the neighborhood qualifies for the CRA version of the city’s buyer program.

Davis Islands

D.P. Davis built it in the 1920s by dredging up Tampa Bay. Original homes are Mediterranean style, and the island holds Tampa General Hospital at its north tip and Peter O. Knight Airport.

Sulphur Springs

Sulphur Springs sits about five miles north of downtown on the Hillsborough River, and its 1927 Sulphur Springs Water Tower still stands.

New Tampa

The city annexed about 24 square miles here in 1988, and most of it was built from the late 1980s through the 1990s. Watch the address: part of what people call New Tampa is unincorporated county with a Tampa mailing address, and city programs don’t apply there.

In Hyde Park, Seminole Heights and Tampa Heights, exterior changes go through the Architectural Review Commission. In Ybor City, it’s the Barrio Latino Commission. Both issue a certificate of appropriateness before work starts.

Stormwater charges, taxes and flood insurance

Every Tampa home pays a stormwater service assessment on the property tax bill, tiered by the size of the house. Homes in the Central and Lower Basin improvement area pay a second stormwater assessment on top of it, and that one runs through 2045. Both go into your escrow, so we build them into your payment from the start.

The city’s floodplain reports show a Class 5 rating in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which takes a discount off flood insurance in the city. If the house sits in a high-risk zone, your lender will require flood coverage, and we build it into your payment. The city is working on flood relief projects in South Howard, southeast Seminole Heights and the lower peninsula.

The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser handles homestead, and missing its March 1 deadline means waiting a full year for the exemption and the cap on assessment increases.

Buying in Tampa with AAA Capital Funding

For purchases, our FHA program needs 3.5% down with a 580 or higher score, FHA 100% covers the down payment with an assistance second, and Conventional starts at 3% down. Investors buying rentals can use a DSCR loan that qualifies on the property’s rent.

We’ve been licensed in Florida since 1997 and close loans in all 67 Florida counties, Tampa included. Call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820 and we’ll show you what a refinance or purchase would cost per month.

Tampa questions we hear a lot

Can I do a cash-out refinance on my Tampa home with average credit?

In many cases you can. FHA cash-out loans allow more flexible credit than most Conventional programs. We’ll look at your score, your equity and your debts together and show you what the new payment looks like.

When do I need the Dare to Own the Dream reservation number?

You need it before you go under contract. You start with a city-approved housing counseling agency, get the reservation, and then write offers. Signing a contract first can cost you the assistance.

Does the CRA version of Tampa’s program have a price cap?

The CRA version has no price cap, but the house has to sit inside one of the city’s CRA areas: East Tampa, Ybor City, West Tampa, Drew Park, the Channel District, Central Park, Tampa Heights or the Riverfront.

Is a New Tampa address inside the city?

A New Tampa address isn’t always inside the city. The city annexed much of New Tampa in 1988, but part of it is unincorporated Hillsborough County with a Tampa mailing address. We check the property appraiser’s record before you count on any city program.

Sources for this page
  1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Tampa city, Florida
  2. City of Tampa: Dare to Own the Dream
  3. City of Tampa: Dare to Own the Dream flyer
  4. City of Tampa: CRA Down Payment Assistance flyer
  5. City of Tampa: down payment assistance results
  6. MacDill Air Force Base fact sheet
  7. City of Tampa: Stormwater Assessment information
  8. City of Tampa: Floodplain Management Plan progress report
  9. City of Tampa: Stormwater projects
  10. City of Tampa: Historic preservation
  11. Hyde Park, Tampa (Wikipedia)
  12. Seminole Heights (Wikipedia)
  13. Davis Islands (Wikipedia)
  14. Tampa Heights (Wikipedia)
  15. Sulphur Springs, Tampa (Wikipedia)
  16. New Tampa (Wikipedia)

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Tampa and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Tampa, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700