USDA Rural Development · Rural Housing Service

A place to buy, rent, or repair — in rural America.

Tell us a little about you. We find what fits, walk you through it in plain English, and hand a clean application to USDA or the property manager. USDA still makes every eligibility decision.

Door 1

Buy a home

A USDA-funded loan or a USDA-backed bank loan to buy a home in a rural community — often with no down payment.

Start here

Door 2

Rent a home

Search affordable rentals in rural communities. Many include rental assistance — you typically pay about 30% of your adjusted income.

Find a rental

Door 3

Repair my home

Loans, grants (62+), or both to fix the home you already own — roof, electrical, plumbing, accessibility, weatherization.

Get repair help

I already started — open my place →

How it works

Three steps from interest to a real decision

Tell us about you

A short, plain-English form. Where you live, who's in your household, income, and what you're trying to do.

We find what fits

The platform runs your info against USDA's rules, shows you what you appear to qualify for, and routes you to the right application.

USDA decides

Your file enters the queue first-come, first-served. USDA staff (or the property manager) review and the official decision is issued.

A level playing field

Everyone can submit a strong application — without paying for help.

Until now, families who could afford to hire a paid preparer had a real advantage: their paperwork arrived complete, in the right order, and got reviewed faster. Everyone else often had their application sent back and had to start over at the back of the line.

This platform gives you the same advantage, for free. It walks you through each section, tells you exactly what to upload, and checks your file before you submit — so your application is ready the first time, and USDA reviews it in the order it arrives.

Behind the scenes

Which USDA programs power this site

You don't need to know any of this to use the site — but we list it so the policy community can see exactly which USDA programs the three doors route into.

Section 515
USDA-supported rental
USDA-financed multi-family rural rental.
Section 521 RA
Rental assistance available
Rental assistance — tenant pays ~30% of adjusted income.
Section 538
USDA-supported rental
USDA-guaranteed multi-family rural rental.
Section 542
USDA-supported rental
Project-based voucher program.
Section 502 Direct
USDA-funded home loan (no down payment)
Very-low and low-income rural families buying a primary home.
Section 502 Guaranteed
Bank loan, USDA-backed
Low- to moderate-income rural families using a private lender with a USDA guarantee.
Section 504 Repair
Home repair help
Existing very-low-income homeowners needing safety repairs — loan, grant, or both.
SARA
USDA-supported rental
Subsidies After Restructuring Agreement.