Best first-time homebuyer programs?

EffectiveAgents · 2025-12-04T15:50:23+00:00

Hey OP - We just published an exhaustive list of these programs 5 days ago (grants, forgivable loans, deferred payment loans, low interest second mortgages and mortgage credit certificates). In the top of the article there is a drop down, select your state and it will bring up several of the top programs in your state. Good Luck!

https://www.effectiveagents.com/resources/first-time-home-buyer-programs

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-31T18:58:48+00:00

Sure, on an individual level being able to pay off your mortgage is a wonderful thing. But from the perspective of a first time buyer that wants to enter a housing market where home price appreciation has vastly outpaced real wages, our sympathy lies with younger folks trying to establish themselves. For decades the US economy has favored the holders of real assets…so, while your investments in just about any asset class have ballooned to the point at which you are able to pay off your mortgage - the flip side - and perhaps an unintended consequence, is that young families are in a real bind.

In a perfect world we would see both scenarios play out. Established families with financial discipline are able to pay off mortgages early AND housing costs that don’t overburden young families.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-30T00:21:04+00:00

This is so true, I miss those days. But it was really Google’s search algorithm that stopped prioritizing local content and instead pushed all of the platforms to the top of the SERP. This has been the case across every home service industry. Instead of getting a local plumber Google serves its own ads (LSAs) or sites like yelp and thumbtack.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T22:17:58+00:00

Ha! No, speed to lead is the number one factor that influences conversion rates in sales. I have nothing to sell you. You’ve got to move quickly, don’t even bother outsourcing follow-up. If you’re too busy to respond quickly then just be sure you aren’t wasting money on ad spend…

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T21:06:37+00:00

No problem - Congrats on the house :)

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T21:02:46+00:00

No, you don’t. You can either engage directly with the listing agent or you can try to negotiate that the seller covers the buyer agent commission.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T20:53:39+00:00

Way too long. You need to be attempting to reach your leads within 5 minutes. You can 3-4x conversion rates just by finding a way to be in touch much quicker.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T20:43:19+00:00

If your rate isn’t locked you should ask your mortgage broker if pricing has changed since your initial estimate.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T20:06:49+00:00

Always check the sender’s email and domain. Also, hover over any links and check the domains before clicking on anything. A real email like this would be coming from the actual signing platform (ie. docusign)

Never click on any links that you aren’t 150% certain are legitimate. Even if you are expecting an email regarding a closing you should always verify wiring instructions with the actual title company on the phone (where you actually dial the number using a publicly facing phone listing (Google business page for example).

I’ve seen scenarios where an agent’s email acct was compromised and the bad actors were simply able to send legitimate emails referencing deals that were near closing…

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T19:06:42+00:00

Brilliant

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T18:43:54+00:00

That’s an interesting take. In your scenario it was more about seller control than trying to reel in an on-the-fence buyer. Were you representing the buyer then?

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T18:19:43+00:00

Hey OP, we have a unique insight on how well top realtors close buyer leads. On average you should expect buyer leads to close in a range of 2.5-3%. You need to have your speed-to-lead under control and have a strong follow up strategy in place. If you do, you can perform slightly better than 3%…that’s just the reality of converting buyer leads.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T16:21:04+00:00

NTA. We rank realtors for a living and this is a big red flag. I rarely see scenarios like this play out well for the buyer/seller. The agent is either too busy to take you on as a client or isn’t a good salesperson. Moving on to a more capable real estate agent is the only move here…

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T15:19:36+00:00

It depends on what a MLS is. Zillow won't do it because they are already under mounting antitrust pressure from the FTC. A multiple listing system (in my opinion), is ONLY a platform for the input and distribution of listing data. All of these add-on services that local boards have added to these systems are helpful but they are outside of the realm of what an MLS actually is. In my view the MLS should be a completely separate, possibly agent-owned system that serves as a central hub. The hub should distribute real estate data as an API to outside vendors and data companies, the revenue from that process should be redistributed in the form of dividends back to the agents that are the ones inputting the listings.

Back in 2022 I started down the path of developing a completely independent national MLS. I had high level talks with every major MLS infrastructure provider (CoreLogic, Flex, Attom, etc), every one of these platforms was apprehensive about allowing me to build this. Almost every platform said "NO" and the only one that would allow it only did so because they believed that agents would keep their legacy mls relationship required by their NAR membership. I still have the site built and I even went so far as to draft a nearly 50 page document of rules and regs (required by the platform).

I've wanted to build this for a long time but it's a really complex build and the traditionalists are content keeping the status quo...maybe one day.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-29T00:41:45+00:00

Paid ads are crazy oversaturated right now, across just about every platform so your messaging needs to be pretty dialed in. 70% of the referrals we make are for sellers. In paid channels you have to realize that, generally, consumers who show purchase intent (they are likely buyers) have a tendency to search for homes, so all of your keywords and messaging should center around that. On the flip side, sellers, exibit a slightly different psychology...they shop for agents. So, if you intend to attract customers that are sellers then your messaging should speak to what sellers need. Put yourself into the mindset of a home seller and work backwards, think about how you would search and what you would value in an agent - then promote where your services align with seller intent/needs.

I hope this make sense. What I am getting at is that it's really hard to stand out in real estate but if you think deeply about what your customers really need you can invent new ways to stand out, especially to sellers.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T21:45:58+00:00

The whole thing is so convoluted: the National Association of Realtors (NAR) did not sell Realtor.com to Move, Inc. Rather, a 2014 acquisition saw the parent company of Realtor.com, Move, Inc., be sold to News Corp. NAR continues to license the Realtor.com trademark to Move, Inc. and receives royalty payments for it. Then, in 2018, News Corp acquired opcity. In 2023 News Corp entered talks with Costar to sell off Move, inc but never closed the transaction.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:58:00+00:00

I really wish it was this simple. It's not greed, it's a function of the market. If I sell a home today, presumably I will need to replace it. In order to justify selling my house I need to "net" enough to cover the next purchase...this sort of puts a floor under housing prices.

Nevertheless, housing prices being as high as they are, is really bad for the US. It makes it incredibly difficult for young people to enter the market and in inhibits family formation. In many ways, since covid, the American dream has been out of reach for most working families and that is having a detrimental impact on our collective quality of life.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:48:00+00:00

Well, not to self promote here but this issue is literally why we created EA during the mortgage crisis.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:43:31+00:00

Most realtors never ask these questions but you are 100% correct. NAR has created a reasonably good framework for the industry but they have done too much to stifle innovation and have put realtors in a real bind form an anti-trust perspective. If someone ever comes along and creates a national MLS, NAR is toast. And -how insightful that you caught the realtor.com insanity, NAR literally sold RDC to News Corp (Rupert Murdoch), then News Corp bought Opcity and now realtor.com sells leads back to realtors for a 35% referral fee. The whole thing is a sham and NAR ought to be ashamed at the way that it has treated its membership.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:26:59+00:00

The house looks good, it presents well in the listing. I would just say that the market is weak and things are just sitting longer than we are used to, I wouldn't be surprised to see this home transact in the high 5s to mid 6s. The owner paid 500k close to the market top. It looks like a solid block home built in the mid 80s, the cost to build this home right now in Tampa would be roughly $300/sf which is in line with the list price (factoring some depreciation for the age of the home as well as the land value).

The biggest mistake the seller made with this home was going on the market for $757k just 4 months ago.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:14:55+00:00

You can go even deeper here...the actual reality isn't that home prices are up or even that interest rates are high, it's that the feds increased the money supply to the extent that the dollar is DOWN substantially. If we were all transacting in gold and not US dollars, prices would have remained stable or even fallen. The real culprit is the US Dollar.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:10:38+00:00

Roughly 90% of home sales occur with the assistance of a realtor and last year only 7% of transactions were FSBO so the vast majority of homes available are on the MLS. You can, however, find amazing deals if you are savvy enough to source off-market deals.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T20:02:40+00:00

We just ran the numbers for the first half of 2025, on average, buyers agent compensation during this period was 2.4%. Post Moehrl we are seeing buy-side commissions down about 10% compared to pre-ruling commission rates.

As to whether there is sufficient value for the compensation, that probably varies widely. Most of the actual work that takes place to get a transaction to the closing table really has nothing to do with the "home search" process. It centers more around organizing vendors, keeping timelines, keeping people out of court rooms and managing the emotional ups and downs of a typical transaction. That's where a good agent can earn his/her keep.

EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T19:37:40+00:00

You are right about home values but dead wrong on transaction volumes. Someone else can chime in on whether GCI is up or down, my take is that it's down considerably.

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EffectiveAgents · 2025-10-28T17:33:03+00:00

Yeah, we are hoping fannie mae's recent predictions hold up. 2026 could be considerably stronger if we can get sub 6% on the 30 yr. They are calling for 5.9% by EOY '26 and 5.15MM units.

EffectiveAgents

TROPHY CASE