First-time homebuyers and honorably discharged military veterans may be missing out on millions of dollars of free cash grants available now from lenders participating in the Nevada Rural Housing Authority's Homes at Last program.

It gives a non-repayable down payment grant equal to 4 percent of the original loan to low-to-moderate income, first-time homebuyers and honorably discharged military veterans.

D. Gary Longaker, NRHA's executive director, and his staff have raised more than $80 million since 2006 in mortgage assistance funds through the sale of tax-exempt bonds.

"Cash down payment grants seem too good to be true, but in the past year we've helped about 200 Nevada families buy their first homes," said Longaker.

"In Nye County, a qualified family of three with a household income of $50,000 may be eligible to receive about $6,000 toward the purchase of a $150,000 home."

Statewide, the average homebuyer receives $8,000 toward a $200,000 mortgage. Most Nevada counties have down-payment assistance funds available as supplements.

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA) provides cash down-payment grants to qualified homebuyers buying newly constructed or existing homes in Nevada communities with a population of 100,000 or less.

Borrowers can apply at any of several participating lenders administering FHA-insured, VA-guaranteed, Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae eligible conventional or Rural Housing Service (RHS), 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages.