Baltimore City Live Near Your Work (employer match grant)

At a glance

Amount

$2,000 to $5,000 or more: your employer's contribution plus a city match of $1,000 to $2,500

Type of help

Grant

Where

Baltimore City

Run by

Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development, Office of Homeownership, with participating employers

First-time buyer

Repeat buyers welcome

Income limit

None

Price limit

Yes, see below

Homebuyer education

Required

Your own funds

At least $1,000

How the grant works

Money you do not pay back, as long as you meet the program's stay-in-the-home terms.

• Monthly payment: None

Who qualifies

• Repeat buyers welcome. No first-time rule from the city. Some employers limit their share to first-time buyers.
• Income. No city income limit (checked 2026-09-22). Individual employers may set their own.
• Price. No published price cap. Your mortgage cannot exceed the FHA limit for a single-family home, listed as $731,400 on the program page (checked 2026-09-22).
• Participating employers: Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland Rehab & Ortho, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Mercy Medical Center, Total Health Care, and 103 more.
• Your employer must be a participating Live Near Your Work employer. Live Baltimore keeps the current list, more than 140 employers as of 2026-09-22.
• Some employers restrict the benefit by length of employment, job title, or neighborhood of purchase.
• Fixed-rate mortgage only. Co-signers, cash sales and owner financing are not allowed.
• You must live in the home as your primary residence.

How to apply

1. 1Before you make an offer, complete a homeownership workshop and a one-on-one counseling session with a City-approved counseling agency. The certificate is valid for 12 months.
2. 2Check that your employer is on Live Baltimore's participating employer list, then contact your HR department or benefits manager. They confirm your eligibility, the employer's contribution and any employer conditions.
3. 3Get pre-approved for a fixed-rate mortgage and set aside at least $1,000 of your own money.
4. 4Get a ratified contract on a Baltimore City home. Your employer's benefits office and the city's Office of Homeownership process the application; the city side runs through the Applicant Portal (Neighborly). Allow at least 30 days before settlement.
5. 5Apply and be approved before closing. Funds are paid at settlement and are not retroactive.

Watch out for

• Employer terms vary a lot. Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland Baltimore and LifeBridge publish larger benefits with neighborhood rules; many smaller employers offer a flat $2,000 to $5,000 total.
• The city's match is $1,000 to $2,500 and the city showed 89 matches remaining as of 2026-09-21. The employer side can also run out for the year, so ask HR about their budget.
• If your employer is not on the list, Live Baltimore's business relationship manager can talk to them about joining, but that will not happen inside your contract timeline.
• Baltimore County runs a separate Live Near Your Work benefit with LifeBridge Health for homes near Northwest Hospital. It is not this program.

Straight answers

Sources

• Live Baltimore, Live Near Your Work (participating employer list and amounts) (read Sep 22, 2026)
• Live Baltimore, Live Near Your Work incentive rules (read Sep 22, 2026)
• Baltimore City DHCD, Homeownership Incentives (city match rule, funding counts as of 09/21/2026) (read Sep 22, 2026)

Program details are summarized from public sources and change without notice. Funding badges reflect the last time we checked, not a guarantee of availability. This is buyer education from a real estate agent, not a loan pre-approval or a commitment to lend. Eligibility is decided by each program administrator and your lender. Equal Housing Opportunity.